Superstarchivist

So Long, 2011!

2011-12-31T17:28:00.001-05:00

Greetings, friends! It's time once again for a little bit of reflection and some goal-setting as we kiss another year goodbye.

From last year's post, these were my 2011 goals. Let's see how we did, shall we?

...because another archivist saw my QR code post and asked if I would like to be part of a session she was proposing for the annual meeting of the Society of American Archivists in 2011. We got accepted! Yay! So 2011 will mark my first presentation at a national meeting. Gulp!
That meeting will be in Chicago in August. Additional travel is planned for Houston in March and, I hope, Dallas/Ft. Worth in May. I'm already chatting up online friends about possible get-togethers!
What else do I want to do next year? I'd like to read more C.S. Lewis, so that's definitely a goal. I also hope to read more books from my library that I discover while browsing the shelves. They may not be current best-sellers, but they'll be things that catch my eye in the stacks.
Also, I still have a number of unfinished goals from 2010, and we'll see how those progress in the coming year.

Goal 1: Survive the SAA meeting and my presentation therein. I did! I was part of a terrific panel on using technology in the archives. I met some great folks from other institutions, and we enjoyed learning from each other. The audience had some good questions for us and seemed to enjoy the session.

Goal 2: Go places. Went to Chicago, Houston, and DFW as planned. Also went to Pennsylvania five times (with New Jersey included once) for a total of three funerals. As much as I enjoy traveling, I could do without the funerals in 2012. On the up-side, I was able to hang out with a variety of my internet friends and met some for the first time. 2011 included visits with (in no particular order) Jim, Joy, Will, Patricia, Heather, Scott, Janet, Joe, Kristin, Kirsten, Harvey, Yolanda, Zulema, Daryl, Kesha, Anne, Maria, and Marcia.

Goal 3: Read stuff. I didn't read as much C.S. Lewis as I intended, but I did finish The Great Divorce, The Screwtape Letters, and Mere Christianity. Hopefully I'll read more in 2012. As far as reading diverse books from the library stacks, those ran the gamut from Mary Roach's Packing for Mars to Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God and from Jon Gordon's The No Complaining Rule to Robert M. Edsel's Monuments Men. If you'd like to keep up with my reading, feel free to add me on Goodreads.com.

Goal 4: Keep meeting old goals. Well, let's just say I'm a work in progress!

So where does this leave me as I stare down the barrel of 2012? What would I like to be looking back on this time next year? Hmm. More travel, as usual. I'm hoping to hit Austin, TX (maybe with some time in San Antonio), again in March and to take my first trip to San Diego, CA, in August. If I can work it out, I'd also like to hop over to the UK in the spring to visit a friend who will be teaching a study abroad course there. That will mean renewing my passport, so I'd better get on that.

Professionally, I did receive my promotion to Associate Professor this year (yay!), but there are always areas in which I can grow. I'm still the ACA Webmaster, and I've enjoyed serving on the board. I'll also be finishing up the second year of my term as SGA Secretary. At this point I don't have any speaking engagements scheduled, but you never know when that could change. (Need a speaker for something? I'd be glad to consider it!)

Beyond that? Who knows? We'll just have to see where we end up. Happy 2012 to you, dear reader! I hope it's a good one!

Cheers!

Rules for Improv @ Your Library

2011-12-13T23:44:00.000-05:00

I'm behind the curve on this one. I just finished listening to the audiobook of Tina Fey's Bossypants, and like lots of other bloggers, I was struck by her Rules of Improvisation That Will Change Your Life and Reduce Belly Fat*. I think the reason so many folks have posted the rules and how they relate to their professions is that they're just good rules for life in general. If you haven't read them yet, here they are, slightly paraphrased from Tina's book. Her thoughts are in bold and italics, and mine (specifically on how I see these play out in librarianship) are in regular type.

1. Agree. Always agree, and say "yes."

This rule reminds you to respect what others have created and to "at least start from an open-minded place. Start with a 'yes,' and see where that takes you."

We've all heard that "librarians fear change." No, not every single one of them, but enough of them to add it to the stereotype (hey, I don't knit or own a cat, but plenty of library folk do). I think we have trouble with this rule; our instinct is to say "no" and to question why we should do something new. But what if we took this rule to heart? Jenica Rogers, one of my library heroes, does just this (emphasis mine, fabulous writing hers):

After the first six months in my current position I told my team that my operating principle is that I will say yes unless I must say no, and that I define “must” by considering our mission, our goals, and our resources. And I’ve been consistent in that. They trust me. And they expect a yes, but respect a no, because they understand how I make those decisions. Someone, upon hearing that, once asked me if I didn’t think that was a misstep – telling the team. Because now that they knew how I made decisions, they could manipulate the system, and thus me. I just stared at them. If my decision-making process is something I’m proud of, and it’s based on mission, goals, and resources, how precisely would someone manipulate me? If their idea is good, I say yes. If their idea compels me to say no, I say no. Knowing that doesn’t give them some strange power over me, it just makes them more comfortable asking me for things because they know how I will treat them when they do.

I love this idea. Most people (especially in libraries!) aren't going to propose random changes without some reason for them, so what are we so afraid of? Let your employees or co-workers try something new! Even better...

2. Don't just say "yes." Say "yes, and..."

Agree, and then "add something of your own.... To [Tina Fey], 'yes, and,' means don't be afraid to contribute. It's your responsibility to contribute. Always make sure you're adding something to the discussion. Your initiations are worthwhile."

Encourage your staff/colleagues/librarians-where-you-work by joining in with their ideas. Instead of questioning them, kick it up a notch! "Oooh, I like that idea! And what if we added x as well?" What would happen in our institutions if we embraced new ideas? If we brainstormed without judging? If we weren't afraid to just go for it with no-holds-barred abandon? Think about it. Dream about it. Do it.

On to rule 3...

3. Make statements.

"This is a positive way of saying, 'Don't ask questions all the time....'" Don't just raise questions and point out obstacles; be part of the solution. "Make statements with your actions and your voice."

I don't even need to add to this (but it's my blog, so I will). Leaders, if you're spineless, grow a spine. Stand up for yourself and your people. Be firm! Say what you mean! Everybody, if you have an idea, share it! Don't hem and haw or sell yourself short. You're in this business for a reason. You love it. You're passionate about it. If you think something might improve a process or a service, let the leaders and managers know. Own it!

4. There are no mistakes, only opportunities.

"In improv, there are no mistakes, only beautiful, happy accidents."

Try something new. If it doesn't work, you can always go back, or better yet, try another new thing. Instead of dwelling on what went wrong, look for what you learned from the experience. How can that help you improve the next iteration? What are we so afraid of? You're never going to please everyone; that's a given. But what could you do that would brighten someone's day or make a process more efficient? Do that.

The whole idea of improvisation is that you're doing something new and creative. It hasn't happened before. It may never happen again. But in this moment, right now, you can have an impact on the other actors in your scene (your co-workers and employees). You can give your audience (patrons) an experience that they'll never forget. You might even impress your directors and producers (those administrative higher-ups who really call the shots). If you always follow someone else's script, what's special about you? Anyone can do that. Live a little, and "set the stage" for something new and exciting!

*Improv will not reduce belly fat.

Precious Memories

2011-11-06T13:26:00.000-05:00

I was asked to share somethoughts about hymns in preparation for my church's hymnal dedication service, and the response was positive enough that I thought I would post my remarks here. Happy reading!

As many of you know, I spent six years working asthe librarian and archivist at the Georgia Music Hall of Fame and another threeas the popular music archivist at Georgia State University. Those two jobsprovided me with a lot of exposure to all kinds of music. I learned that manyfamous performers got their start singing church music, either alone, withfamily groups, or in church choirs. I also learned that some singers used hymnsas inspiration for their pop music hits, such as when Ray Charles changed thewords of “I’ve Got a Savior” and recorded “I’ve Got a Woman.”

As many of you also know, I now work as the head ofspecial collections at Mercer University. You may not be aware, though, thatJesse Mercer, the esteemed Georgia Baptist minister for whom the school isnamed, compiled and published hymnals in the 1800s. These early hymnals did notinclude music, only words, and they were small enough to fit in a pocket.

As much as I love sharing trivia about music,though, most of my experiences with hymns are more personal. I ended updeciding to share a few memories with you today.

My father is a retired Baptist minister. I grew upin south Monroe County and was raised on the songs in the 1956 edition of The Baptist Hymnal. (We had enoughcopies of the 1976 edition for the choir, but not for the congregation.) Thechoir would occasionally mix things up and sing from The Country and Western Gospel Hymnal if the music director feltrebellious.

In months that had five Sundays, the fifth Sundaynight was a “Singspiration” service. Instead of a regular worship service, therewas special music by the choir, solos, duets, quartets, and so on. There wasalways a time for “congregational favorites,” and attendees called out thenumbers or titles of their favorite hymns. You could almost always count onsomebody requesting “The Old Rugged Cross” or “At Calvary” during that time.The music director would jot down five or six songs, and we would sing thefirst and last verses.

Speaking of that, I don’t know the third verses ofmost of the hymns I learned as a kid. We always sang one, two, and four. Except,of course, if we were having revival. Then we sang through all six verses of“Just As I Am” until everyone was hoarse.

The hymns I grew up with are still some of myfavorites. The lyrics and music have stayed with me, and I still think of themfrom time to time, not just when we sing them here. Nothing is more comfortingthan remembering “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” if you’re feeling low.

I’ve enjoyed singing hymns from the new hymnal. It’sgot a nice mix of old favorites and some newer songs that aren’t justrepetitive choruses but really have some theology in them. I’d like toencourage all of you to come back tonight and bring some friends fora time of worship through song. Thank you.

The Hidden Suffering of “Good Librarian Syndrome”

2011-10-19T15:47:00.001-04:00

It’s a really tough time to be a(n) ___________. Fill in that blank with your chosen profession. It’s true for all of us right now. But in my own role as a librarian and archivist, there are some particular challenges.

I recently had an online discussion with some wonderful library/archives friends from around the country who are all struggling with hiring freezes, budget cuts, and administrators begging us to do more with less. One of the issues that was mentioned was a lack of staffing, which led to position restructuring within the library but no change in services. As usual, library employees were expected to endure these changes with pleasant smiles and helpful demeanors. But why? Other departments are not burdened with such expectations. Nobody bats an eye if they stand up and fight against cuts. Why are we so different?

It was suggested that the core of our problem is “Good Librarian Syndrome”: it hurts us to say “no” when we are asked by our supervisors, administrations, or even our patrons to do something. The librarian who described this malady went on to say that we have to teach librarians how to say “no” – it’s not a natural behavior for those of us who love to help people. Instead, we will naturally go out of our way to help patrons discover topics, find the best sources, and format and cite their research papers. It’s just what we do. We can’t help helping. And we will help you until it kills us. Maybe not literally, but we will “do more with less” until we have nothing left to give to anyone.

One of the librarians in the discussion fought back: “I don't understand why we have such a problem saying ‘no.’ If our budgets get slashed and we have to cut resources, and then people complain, I feel like we should be honest and say, ‘Hey, our budget got slashed. It totally sucks. Here is who you should complain to.’ I find the fact that we are not ok with doing this mind-blowing. I don't think it is good to portray libraries as not suffering, if in fact they are. I think it could work against us. How can we ask for more when we always seem to be doing more with less?” She’s right, of course. If we continue to maintain hours and services with fewer and fewer resources, we will never get our budgets restored or our vacancies filled.

The answer she received in our chat was, “Because ‘Good Librarians’ like to suffer and want to seem like superheroes. It's a nice idea but it leads to bad service, unrealistic expectations, and burnout.”

Yes, it does. Why do we think this is normal behavior? Why aren’t we empowered to stand our ground and state our case? How can we maintain our “Good Librarian” status without running ourselves ragged? I don’t have all the answers, but I think the outspoken librarian above is correct. We need to let people know that we’re suffering and that we’re not superheroes no matter how much we long to be. (And with a name like “Superstarchivist,” I do long to be.)

Another Week in the Life

2011-07-29T21:52:00.000-04:00

Welcome, dear reader, to the end of #libday7. I haven't been able to post as much as I'd like this week; it's just been wild.

Today I got to do a couple of things related to my job as a university archivist (or archivist in a university, which isn't exactly the same thing). As part of our "facultyness" at MPOW, librarians (and yours truly, as the archivist, or special collections librarian) are expected to participate in professional development activities. This may include writing articles, presenting papers, serving on committees, or whatever we do to further our academic careers while trying not to embarrass the university.

I'm currently serving as the Secretary of my state archives organization, and we had a board meeting today. So I was able to take a day off work to further my professional development. The group has a terrific, enthusiastic board, and taking the minutes isn't difficult. It's a good way to stay involved and to keep current with what's happening in archives in GA.

After the meeting, I came home and reviewed applications for job vacancies. That's another part of my faculty life, helping to recruit for our library faculty positions. This is the first time we've formed a search committee to deal with all the applicants (we have a lot, and we have two jobs available). It's definitely easier to be on the hiring side of the table when it comes to job searches!

I hope all of you have had a good week and have enjoyed seeing some of the diverse activities librarians are involved in. We don't just shelve books, you know!

What a week!

2011-07-28T16:28:00.003-04:00

I'm behind on my Library Day in the Life posts. It's been a zoo of a week, and it's not over yet. Some highlights include:

getting workouts loading an archives collection into and out of my car on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively,
sorting out the duties of MPOW's first ever search committee for a library job (actually, two jobs),
attending a campus wellness "lunch and learn" program on gardening,
printing out a large number of job applications for the above-mentioned positions,
hosting a research team working on another college's 150th anniversary plans,
showing one of my great staff members how to log in to our archives blog,
keeping up on new writings about QR codes,
and a whole bunch of stuff I've forgotten!

Another exciting round of "Library Day in the Life"

2011-07-25T11:34:00.003-04:00

Yes, friends, fiends, and fans, it's time for another exciting week of "Library Day in the Life" posts! Follow the fun on Twitter by searching for #libday7, or see more at http://librarydayinthelife.pbworks.com.

My own day thus far:

Before 8:00am - stop to pick up lunch and some cookies for today's going away party for two colleagues.
8:15 - 8:45 - check in with colleagues to find out what I missed by being out for professional development on Friday.
9:00 - 10:00 - check email and voice mail to discover an urgent reference request for a campus department. Start digging. Find out from assistant he is working on same question. Email campus department and learn that they have already answered one part of their question.
10:00 - 11:00 - library management group meeting. Discuss fall plans (we're short on reference and subject librarian help) and brainstorm ways to survive. Deliver report from library communications committee on next steps.
11:00 - 11:30 - open snail mail from Friday, delegate contents of some envelopes, put other items in box for student to file.
11:30 - 11:45 - start blog post on #libday7. Talk to circulation desk about fall student hiring.

That's it for now!

Pork Chop, Pork Chop, Not So Greasy

2011-07-09T14:57:00.002-04:00

With mad props to Mary Puskar, I present to you her recipe for Spicy Pork Chops as found in the first Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook. This is far and away my favorite way to eat pork chops.

5-6 center-cut loin pork chops
3 Tbsp. oil
1 onion, sliced
1 green pepper, cut into strips
8-oz. can tomato sauce
3-4 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. vinegar
1.5 tsp. salt
1-2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1. Brown chops in oil in skillet. Transfer to slow cooker.
2. Add remaining ingredients to cooker.
3. Cover. Cook on low 6-8 hours.
4. Serve over rice.

A few modifications from Chez Superstarchivist: when we were out of tomato sauce, we used a 14 oz. can of diced tomatoes. Equally yummy! We've also added extra peppers and onions just because we like them. Also note, these aren't really what you think of when you think of "spicy." A better name might be "Sweet and Sour Pork Chops." Regardless, though, enjoy!

Baptist History Resources

2011-05-13T13:46:00.002-04:00

These resources were gathered from Taffey Hall's article, "Saving Grace: Baptist Archives and Historical Collections in North America," in the Baptist History and Heritage journal, volume 44, no. 2, 2009. This blog post was prepared in conjunction with Telling the Old, Old Story: Research Opportunities for Minority Baptist Groups, presented at ALABI 2011.

Links to a Variety of Baptist Institutions and Repositories

ALABI: http://alabi.org/related-links/

BaptistHeritage.com (includes Starr bibliography): http://www.baptistheritage.com/resources/resources.htm

BHHS: http://www.baptisthistory.org/bhhs/

BaptistLife.com: http://baptistlife.com/

Baptist Studies Online: http://baptiststudiesonline.com/links/

SBHLA: http://sbhla.org/links.htm

Specific Baptist Groups

Baptist General Conference Archives
http://www.bethel.edu/bgc-archives/

Conservative Baptists
http://www.westernseminary.edu/Library/PDX/index.htm
http://www.denverseminary.edu
http://www.worldventure.com

Free Will Baptists
http://abacus.bates.edu/muskie-archives/
http://www.fwbbc.edu/
http://www.moc.edu/?freewillbaptisthistoricalcollection

General Association of General Baptists
http://oak.oak.edu/

General Association of Regular Baptist Churches
http://www.garbc.org/

Independent Baptists
http://bbfimissions.com/
http://www.gobbc.edu/library/
http://centralseminary.edu/

Landmark Missionary Baptists
http://www.mb-seminary.net/
http://www.bmats.edu/library.htm

Neo-Calvinists
http://www.arbca.com/
http://founders.org/library/
http://www.reformedreader.org/
http://www.reformed.org/documents/index.html
http://www.reformed.org/documents/index.html

North American Baptist Conference (former German Baptist Conference)
http://www.nabarchives.org/

Primitive Baptists
http://www.mountzionpbc.org/
http://www.carthage.lib.il.us/community/churches/primbap/pbl.html
http://www.elon.edu/e-web/library/
http://www.pb.org/

Seventh Day Baptist Historical Society
http://www.sdbhistory.org/

Print Sources

Hall, Taffey. "Saving Grace: Baptist Archives and Historical Collections in North America." Baptist History and Heritage 44, no. 2 (2009): 31-46.

May, Lynn E., Jr. International Directory of Baptist Archives/Libraries. McLean, VA: Baptist World Alliance Commission on Baptist Heritage, 1990.

Sumners, Bill. "Baptist Archives." In Baptist History Celebration, 2007: A Symposium on Our History, Theology, and Hymnody, 244-251. Springfield, MO: Baptist History Celebration Steering Committee, Particular Baptist Press, 2008.

My Dewey Classification

2011-02-18T13:07:00.001-05:00

Superstarchivist's Dewey Decimal Section:

007 [Unassigned]

Class:
000 Computer Science, Information & General Works

Contains:
Encyclopedias, magazines, journals and books with quotations.

What it says about you:
You are very informative and up to date. You're working on living in the here and now, not the past. You go through a lot of changes. When you make a decision you can be very sure of yourself, maybe even stubborn, but your friends appreciate your honesty and resolve.

Find your Dewey Decimal Section at Spacefem.com

God Is My Travel Agent

2011-01-28T23:32:00.001-05:00

This week I did something I don't think I've ever done before. I attended the funeral of a person I never met. And it was awesome.

First, a bit of background. Frank was the brother of my good friend Jim, whom I met online (via FriendFeed) a couple of years ago. Frank was diagnosed with sarcoma last spring and battled cancer courageously until succumbing to it on January 19. The FriendFeed community had been following Frank's journey through Jim's posts, joining as virtual members of "Team Frank" and trying to support the family through our prayers and good wishes. We even had specially designed logos that a number of us used on FriendFeed:

and

(Kudos to FFer Jeremy for his great designs. The extra F in Frank is for FriendFeed, by the way.) Eventually the Team Frank movement even made its way to Facebook, where a number of Frank's real life friends and supporters used the logos, too.

And now, back to this week. We knew Frank was fading fast, but all of his virtual fans were still shocked and saddened when we found out about his passing last Wednesday night. We mourned with his family and friends, crying and posting messages of support for his family and each other. We shared posts and photos from his sister Maria's Facebook page as well as songs and videos to encourage everyone involved.

Some FFers were even closer to the situation.

Jim is a pastor, and Frank had asked him to conduct the funeral service. Jim requested and received help from his pastor friend Will and from a FriendFeeding nun, Heather.

Over the weekend, my husband and I were talking about the funeral plans. He said he didn't mind if I wanted to go; he could stay home with the dogs. Well, of course I'd love to go, but how on earth could I manage it? I'd have to get from Georgia to Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and last-minute plane tickets aren't cheap. I looked at some tickets online and found some reasonable prices, but that didn't take into account getting from the airport in Philadelphia to the funeral in New Jersey or finding a place to stay. Was I really up for renting a car or trying to find some kind of shuttle service?

Cue FriendFeed. On Sunday afternoon, I posted that I wanted to fly to PA/NJ for the funeral but was having trouble with the logistics. Heather and her husband, Scott (yes, she's an Episcopal nun, so she can be married), were driving up and offered to meet me at the airport Monday night if I needed them to. Patricia, another FriendFeeder, was planning to drive up Tuesday morning for the funeral and could also get me from the airport. Pastor Will was on the road when I posted but said he would call from home. I updated FriendFeed with the possibilities.

At that point, Heather commented: "Be not afraid - your path will be made clear." And you know what? She was absolutely right.

Will called me and said he could pick me up from the airport and even provide a place to stay.
The cheapest flight I had seen on Travelocity that afternoon was from United. It had disappeared, and I was getting nervous. The next time I logged in after talking to Will, a new flight was there from Airtran. And it was four dollars cheaper than the missing United flight.
I was pretty sure I could get time off work, but I needed to go to a Monday morning meeting. I texted my boss to see if I could take Monday afternoon and Tuesday off. Yes, no problem.

I made my reservations, firmed up plans with Will, and made the trip. The service was wonderful, and I got to meet Maria as well as Jim's parents and family. After an amazing lunch at Cafe Antonio's, Will and I said our goodbyes to the family and headed to the airport. Will apologized for dropping me off so early, almost two hours before my flight, but said there wasn't really any place to hang out at the Philadelphia airport. I told him that was ok, thanked him for his kindness, printed my boarding pass, and went through security. When I got to my gate, there was no flight information on the screen and no customer service representative there - it was too early. I walked to the next gate just to make sure my flight hadn't moved, and I saw the screen there read "Atlanta, 5:38." Hmmm. My flight was scheduled for 7:03.

I asked the Airtran employee if they had any available seats. She asked if I had a seat on the next flight, and when I told her I did, she said she had some available. She changed my reservation, handed me a new boarding pass, and sent me down the ramp. No charge.

I ended up getting to my house at the time I should have been landing in Atlanta.

Every single thing about that trip worked out perfectly. I couldn't have asked for anything better. So I leave you with this thought:

If a nun ever tells you, "Be not afraid - your path will be made clear," you had better believe it.

Rest in peace, Frank.

True Colors? Thoughts on "National Archives Blues"

2011-01-16T14:26:00.000-05:00

A recent item from the Literary Review of Canada floated to the top of my infostream and captured my attention. The article, "National Archives Blues," is by journalist Susan Crean, a self-confessed admirer of archives. I don't really know much (ok, ANYTHING) about Canadian archives, but the subtitle of the article spurred me to read more: "Is a precious Canadian asset being digitized to death?" I'm not a member of the "digitize 'em all, and let God sort 'em out" camp of archivists (if there is such a thing). I do believe, however, that there is a place for digitizing archival resources, so the idea of "digitizing an archives to death" struck me as an interesting premise.

I don't want to replicate Ms. Crean's entire piece here, but you should go read it. I'll cut and paste enough to comment on here and hope you will contribute your thoughts, too.*

Shall we begin?

"Archives are, after all, overtly dull places. Never mind the swanky marble entrances; they actually consist of a bunch of nondescript rooms with big tables, straight-backed chairs and large windows, and very little going on other than an attendant or two dispensing information at the reference desk and a few people sifting through papers. And this is the exciting part."

Not much to argue with there. I will say that I'm not a fan of large windows in archives, though, just because of the damage that can be done to the documents by sunlight and water. But we'll save that for another post.

"It did not take long to discover the great truth about archival work, which is, appearances to the contrary, that it is utterly absorbing. In the first place, it is unpredictable: you never know what you will find, even when an archive has been worked over by generations of historians, writers and relatives. Despite the sense of order and rational purpose implied by the tidy boxes and numbered files, archives do not follow rules and are not reducible to a system like the Dewey decimal as books are. You cannot put in a search for a missing memo as you can for a missing book. Moreover, be they institutional or the papers of individuals, archives are never complete or comprehensive. What floats up from the past is largely a matter of serendipity, which means that archival research is pretty much a crapshoot."

Yep. All true. We do follow our own rules, but she's right about the lack of an overarching system like Dewey.

"My first foray into the National Archives was in 1977.... Right off the top, I encountered the all-important corollary to the truth about the irrationality of archives—that the real treasures are the archivists, the clue givers. ... With collections that are not used enough to merit the expense of developing finding aids, they can be your only hope."

I feel like Obi-Wan Kenobi! Again, though, Ms. Crean is correct. Ladies and gentlemen, please be nice to the archivists.

"What I am describing here is a partnership rather like that of violin maker and violinist, both métiers depending on hours and hours of highly skilled labour and a devotion to the non-monetary rewards implicit in their art. Although they may never meet, artisan and artist are inextricably connected—the accomplishment of one depending on the craftsmanship of the other. Similarly, the work of archivists and writers (academics, government researchers, students, independent scholars and creators) operates interdependently and on an intellectual level, and insofar as the resulting creation—book, film, policy, painting, lyric or theory—reaches other minds, it feeds into the stream of ideas and knowledge that constitutes living culture."

I like the way she thinks. And writes.

But what is this? Something has changed. Our tale of intrepid researchers combing through boxes of loose pages takes a sinister turn. Where are the native guides who will show us the way?

When Ms. Crean returned to the National Archives in 2010,

"it was to Libraries and Archives Canada, which had amalgamated in 2004, and a building on Wellington Street rattling with ghosts. When I was last there in 1994, the archivists had already been moved to a building across the street; now they are a 40-minute bus trip away in Gatineau.... [T]he only remaining occupants are general reference staff and the genealogy department."

Even in the university archives where I work, we help a number of genealogists because of the kinds of records we hold. Nothing wrong with that. But Ms. Crean now arrives where the title of the article has suggested we will go: the digital graveyard.

"The biggest pressure, however, comes from the digital revolution, which has transformed the world of documentary production—and with it the work of archivists—while irrevocably changing public expectations. Digital access is now seen as a quasi right and digitization as a means of mass democratization. So it is no surprise that this has become the central preoccupation of LAC and has apparently led to a radical reassessment of its purpose."

Hmmmmm. A "quasi right," eh? "Mass democratization"? I'm not arguing with Ms. Crean; I agree that these are the perceptions of some in library/archives administration and surely of some of our patrons. Yes, I have been asked, "But isn't it all online?" and had students stare at me when I explain that most archives do not have the time, money, staff, or server space to digitize even a fraction of their holdings, much less to provide persistent and consistent access to them for the foreseeable future.

She goes on to describe Daniel Caron, "the first chief archivist not to have a degree in history, but rather a PhD in economics," who "spoke of the 'public memory monopoly once exercised by archives.'" Apparently Dr. Caron has described archivists as existing "within an anachronistic time and space," instead of where he would like for us to live, capable of providing information that "needs to be ubiquitous, instant and unmediated."

Again, hmmmmm. Let me say here that I do not work in a government archives, especially one in Canada. I'm sure the missions of our institutions are different. However, I bristle at the thought of archives holding a monopoly on public memory and at the thought of archivists as anachronisms. Isn't the "public memory" just that? Public? Of the people? Shared as part of our collective cultural being? Of course there have been archivists who have hoarded documentary treasures in sealed vaults behind closed doors, just as there have been plenty who have created displays, given talks to school and civic groups, and thrown open those doors to share the wonderful things we have beyond our "swanky marble entrances." Certainly we walk the tightrope between preservation and access. Yes, we're happy to provide access to you, but in order to preserve it for the next user, there might be some limits. Our patrons seem to understand this and appreciate it.

Ms. Crean continues, describing the "Modernization Papers" issued by Dr. Caron in 2009, strategic plans for the LAC "written as if staff and the archive-going public do not exist, as if senior management, in its headlong rush to find favour with a new generation of users—and masters?—has become disconnected." She makes a valuable case for the importance of archivists who help lead researchers through the maze of holdings, both print and digital, and reminds us that digitization cannot "guarantee accuracy. Scanning does not necessarily capture all the information on a paper page, and with handwritten records, one entry misread and your entire family can disappear."

The LAC's emphasis on digitizing has led to cuts in its acquisition budget: "The fear is that LAC is being reduced to collecting government papers and not much else." Ms. Crean describes Craig Heron, a historian who has his own concerns about the future of the archives. "Heron ... found scant appreciation among LAC officials for the nature of historical research, or the role of archivists in delivering access. 'The implication seemed to be that people doing long-term research are elitist and marginal,' he told me."

By all means, government records must be preserved. However, I hope other institutions in Canada are picking up whatever slack the LAC is leaving in its digital wake.

Ms. Crean concludes: "If I have the blues, it is for the absence of this kind of conversation, and for an intellectual tradition under siege because of the undervalued work of the archives in general and archivists in particular. But it is also a lament for an institution caught in the backdraft of digitization and losing its way."

I suppose this article made me feel like those that say we don't need librarians now that we have the internet. I think archivists have value to researchers beyond what we provide when we scan and add metadata to documents. We help find connections within and among our collections. We can, with the consent of those involved, point you toward others who are working on similar topics. We know what we have that isn't online, and we know other archivists that have wonderful things in their collections, too.

So please, LAC, don't go digital at the expense of your patrons. Providing access online isn't a bad thing, but I hope you don't lose the depth of service provided by trained, knowledgeable, helpful archivists. Interpretation is, in my mind, as valuable as the sources we share.

*I quoted more heavily than I intended to but hope it makes sense.

Getting a head start on 2011 resolutions!

2010-12-22T14:42:00.002-05:00

As I mentioned in my previous post, I want to read more C.S. Lewis in 2011. I've gotten a head start by beginning with Mere Christianity, which I already had at home. I also said I wanted to read more books that I find when browsing the shelves at work, and I selected the first one today. I decided to start with the "A" call numbers, of which there aren't very many. I chose Enigmas: Another Book of Unexplained Facts by Rupert T. Gould (1966 printing).

We'll see how this goes!

A Year in P/Review

2010-12-21T19:20:00.002-05:00

(in which our intrepid archivist attempts to kill two metaphorical birds with one blog post)

'Tis the season for posting lists of what we've learned/done/survived in 2010 and what we hope to improve upon in 2011. There are a number of wonderful bloggers out there doing this, including my friends Colleen Harris and Aden Penn, and they have inspired me. However, y'all know I'm lazy -- errrr, efficient -- so I'm going to do mine all in one post.

2010 in a Candy-Coated Shell (tastier than a "nutshell")

Let's see...

I did a good bit of traveling, and I had a blast! I added two new states to my list of places I've been: Arizona and Arkansas. I also went to Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Alabama, Mississippi, and Washington, DC. I visited Memphis, TN, as a tourist with my friend Pam. If you ever find yourself there, go to the Stax Museum and the National Civil Rights Museum. GO DIRECTLY TO THESE MUSEUMS. Do not pass go; do not collect $200. Just go. You won't regret it. (And you can get a combo ticket for the two and save a little money.) I also saw Pat Benatar and REO Speedwagon in concert in Minnesota. :)
I met new old friends! I have terrific online friends, and nothing pleases me more than meeting them in person. This year I was fortunate to add to my IRL* list (in alphabetical order) Abigail, Aimee, Amber, Becky, Carmen, Cecily, Colleen, Dan, Greg, Jason, Jim, Julian, Ken, Laura N., Luis, Marge, Mathew, Michelle, Rochelle, Scott, Tony, and Will. And I got to see Harvey and Iris again! Yay!
There was professional development fun! I submitted an article to a journal (still waiting for publication, but it should be out soon), gave the devotional at one meeting, attended a conference on undergraduate research, and was selected as the webmaster for the Academy of Certified Archivists. I also supervised an MLIS capstone intern who digitized some of our Civil War materials, served on the committee for the library's new student research award, and gave short talks at meetings of our public services department and the campus Faculty/Staff Christian Fellowship group. Busy times!
I spent a good bit of time working on my promotion application for work. Even though librarians are not tenure track faculty at MPOW**, we have academic rank. Although I was eligible to apply for promotion last year, it was just entirely too busy to even consider it. This year things were a bit more manageable, so I went for it. I'll keep you posted (I won't hear anything for a while yet).
I experienced the yucky part of management: dealing with layoffs. Although there was nothing pleasant about it, I did learn some things. And I'm glad that that was the first time I've ever had to deal with it. I hope it was the last.

And where does this leave us as 2010 winds down? Has your friendly Superstarchivist learned anything this year? Hrm. Well, I've learned:

that even though I didn't know anything about Joomla or being a webmaster, with some training and patience, I can make it work. (In the words of Mr. B, I can "smack it until it cries.")
that although I may not know a ton about social networking, I can put together an informative and reasonably entertaining presentation for others about it.
that posting something about QR codes was smart because...

Looking Ahead: 2011 from This Vantage Point

...because another archivist saw my QR code post and asked if I would like to be part of a session she was proposing for the annual meeting of the Society of American Archivists in 2011. We got accepted! Yay! So 2011 will mark my first presentation at a national meeting. Gulp!
That meeting will be in Chicago in August. Additional travel is planned for Houston in March and, I hope, Dallas/Ft. Worth in May. I'm already chatting up online friends about possible get-togethers!
What else do I want to do next year? I'd like to read more C.S. Lewis, so that's definitely a goal. I also hope to read more books from my library that I discover while browsing the shelves. They may not be current best-sellers, but they'll be things that catch my eye in the stacks.
Also, I still have a number of unfinished goals from 2010, and we'll see how those progress in the coming year.

As Aerosmith says, "Life's a journey, not a destination," so I shouldn't feel bad about not doing everything I wanted to do this year. I'm a work in progress!

Thank you for reading, and happiest holiday wishes to you and yours. I look forward to seeing you in the rest of 2010 and all next year!

:)

LB

*in real life
** my place of work

Social Networking and You

2010-09-20T10:38:00.002-04:00

(This post was developed in conjunction with a presentation to our campus Faculty/Staff Christian Fellowship group. It is meant to serve as an introduction to social networking and is slanted toward its use as a ministry/outreach tool.)

What is a social network, and why should I care?

"Twitter is what you're doing, Foursquare is where you are, Facebook is who you're with, and Yelp is where you've been." - Dan Messer

Wikipedia, itself an example of the power of crowd-sourced information, defines a social network service as "an online service, platform, or site that focuses on building and reflecting of social networks or social relations among people, e.g., who share interests and/or activities." It goes on to describe similar features of most of these sites: "Most often, individual users are encouraged to create profiles containing various information about themselves.... upload pictures of themselves, ... post blog entries, ... search for other users with similar interests, and compile and share lists of contacts. In addition, user profiles often have a section dedicated to comments from friends and other users."

Ok, I'm intrigued. Where do I start?

Although social sites are numerous and constantly changing, there are some big names you should know. These are among the most commonly used social platforms in academic life and the places where you are most likely to find your students, colleagues, and peers.

Twitter is a microblogging platform, a space to share with your followers (subscribers) "what's happening" in 140 characters or less. In your profile, you can include a picture, your name, your location, a link to your website or blog, and a short (160 characters or less) biographical sketch. There are numerous Christian Twitter accounts where you can follow musicians, pastors, and churches to see what's going on. Some accounts you might enjoy include "Rev Run Wisdom," "Rick Warren," and my friend the "Undercover Nun." Even long-dead pastor Charles Spurgeon has a Twitter account where his thoughts and quotes are shared!

Most academics have heard of Facebook, and many of them have profiles there. It is probably the most used avenue for social networking, having long since surpassed MySpace in popularity. Your students hang out there a lot, making it a good place to interact with them outside of the classroom. Some profs set up course pages to encourage communication, and you can find out what is happening around campus. Keep up with popular culture references and find the people YOU went to high school and college with, too!

Blogs, or "web logs," are best described as online journals. You're reading one right now. Blogs are easy to set up and can be useful for promoting both your personal and professional interests. Share your Christian walk through your posts, then link the address in your Twitter and Facebook profiles. Link to blogs you find inspiring, and comment on them. Blogger, WordPress, TypePad, and other free platforms are easy to set up and maintain. You can use them for free or pay for advanced features and personal hosting.

There are also sites with more specific focuses. For instance, Flickr is designed for sharing photos, LinkedIn highlights professional networking, Ravelry is home to knitters and crocheters, and Goodreads encourages you to recommend and discuss books.

What on earth does this have to do with my faith?

I asked some of my friends this question, and I want to share their insights. Some minister buddies responded with how they use Facebook to promote church goings-on with their members and others in their communities. They use Twitter to share inspirational thoughts and keep in touch with friends, and they use blogs for more in-depth posts. Sometimes they share sermon texts, and other times they ask for input on ideas they're trying to work out.

The inimitable Undercover Nun blew me away with her reply, which I have edited for sharing while trying to leave her excellent points intact.

Christianity is about relationship, more than anything else. Same with online social media. Social media is about conversation, connection, relationship. If you start out on Twitter/Facebook/whatever, then you need to spend at least as much time reading, commenting, and conversing as you do on writing your own content.
Personally, I get extremely turned off when all someone does is quote scripture in their feed, especially if they don't interact. [In my opinion,] preaching does far less to win souls than conversation does. There's a reason St. Dominic is more known for his meet-ups and conversations in pubs and marketplaces than for his preaching in great cathedrals.
When you're keeping relationship or conversation central to your frame of mind, you're closer to the right path.
Your content needs to not just echo what can be found elsewhere. Add value somehow. That value may be your personal interpretation on churchified stuff, or it might be taking a news story and saying "The Christian POV on this should be..." or "What a Lutheran might say would be..." or it might be progressive or conservative or via-media or something entirely other. But if all you do is parrot other stuff without any part of you, then why should I follow you? I can just go to the sources!
Developing your own voice is important. It can help to take on a persona, like Real Live Preacher or (God help me) Undercover Nun. Being able to use common caricatures or stereotypes can be helpful. ... This will come with time, and it can change over time, too.
This is not a once-a-day, low-commitment ministry. It takes time to build relationships, to enter into conversations, to find (and/or create!) sacred space among all the secular stuff online. I believe It's totally worth it, but you have to be regular in posting and reading and conversing.

She sums up with "most of this is what I'd say to anyone using social media online, for an individual, for a business building an online presence, for a church, whatever. Identity. Voice. Content with value. Conversation. Relationship. Commitment. In some order."

That's it in a nutshell. Be yourself, be open, be honest, and communicate. Don't just speak, but listen, and respond. Converse. Reach out to your students, your colleagues, and people you've never met. Let them reply to you, and continue the conversation. Provide feedback to others on their blogs and Facebook pages, too. Provoke thought. Share.

"I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ." - Philemon 1:6, NIV

QR Codes @ Your Library/Archives

2010-09-01T09:35:00.001-04:00

Recently, I've been reading about QR codes and how they can be used in libraries. A basic web search will yield a number of results, so I won't bother listing them all here. However, I will highlight a few things that prompted my interest in the topic.

The fabulous Meredith Farkas wrote "Guided by Barcodes" for American Libraries. She mentions the use of QR codes for library instruction (links to websites or tutorials, surveys, contact information, and text or chat reference), equipment usage (tutorial video on using a microfilm reader), and fun (library scavenger hunt). Other library applications she describes are "read-alikes," links to electronic journals, and uses by archives and museums. This is a great short overview if you're new to the idea of QR codes.

My buddy Dan Messer tags his staff picks for reading material at his library with QR codes linking to the books' catalog records.

Laurie Bridges created a short video on how QR codes are being used in libraries and museums.

The JFK Library and Museum is using QR codes to link back to Twitter.

Of course, you can also see QR codes in the wild. Google is providing QR stickers to 100,000 "Favorite Places" in the US. Recent Twitter posts on QR codes revealed more uses for them ("there are #QRcodes in my Southern Living mag offering travel discounts") as well as hyped their newness. They "have a draw, a mystique, what's it going to be? They offer a chance for good PR, brand awareness and interaction." "Being 1 of the 1st co.'s to use #QRCodes could make a a brand look cool/drive PR in trade pubs. If it works or not may not matter."
"It's not coming. It's here."

I hear what you're saying out there. Yeah, yeah, Superstarchivist. That's all well and good if you have time and money and space for those sorts of things. But I'm a "lone arranger" in a university archives. What good is this going to do me? How does it help my patrons?

Well, let me tell you how we've used QR codes so far:

I recently created a display within my library depicting life on campus 50 years ago. Our campus marketing team is already using a website to advertise this year's homecoming events, so I included a QR code to that page as part of the display.
Our outreach librarian included one on a flyer about inter-library loan services; the code links to our ILL webpage.
I included one to our Special Collections page as part of a student handout on the archives.

So, yeah, that's only three examples, but the academic year has just begun! I'm thinking that next time I go to a conference, I'm going to take a QR sticker with me to put on my badge. I can create a contact link that is easy for someone to add to their smartphone. Maybe I'll even link back to this blog posting. I think they certainly have a place in displays, book recommendations, and instruction.

What about you? Are you using them in your institution yet?

Shoutout to Derangement and Description

2010-08-16T10:07:00.003-04:00

Rebecca Goldman (@DerangeDescribe on Twitter) did an amazing job with her latest blog posting, Post-SAA Howl.

I encourage you to read her thoughts about new archivists and why this profession may run them off, which include such insight as:

"I worry about these kids. And I worry about you, archivists, and your profession, because I worry that these archivists will take their skills and ideas and find jobs outside the field instead of putting up with all this bullshit. And how can you truly preserve your collections in the long term if there is no one to replace you if you change jobs or retire or get crushed in your own compact shelving?"

The comments are also thought-provoking. I know other fields have this same dilemma of "how do I get a job without experience, and how do I get experience without a job," but this is MY field, and it bothers me.

In the words of Simon and Garfunkel, "Preserve your memories; they're all that's left you."

A Day in the Life!

2010-07-26T13:59:00.005-04:00

It's time again for a Library Day in the Life post. Whoo-hoo!

See http://librarydayinthelife.pbworks.com/Round-5,-July-26th,-2010 for more info. And watch this space!

EDIT: Now if I can just remember what I did today... I'll start with my Twitter posts containing the #libday5 hashtag and then fill in the gaps:

"I'd like to be writing my Library Day in the Life post or installing the new scanner. But I'm just moving things around on my desk."
"Paid my contribution for fried chicken for recent library potluck."
"Found the correct campus address for a check that ended up on my desk. Sadly, not for me."
"Met with summer intern for debriefing on her project. Worked on material for Friday's unconference."
"Agreed to let the nominating committee put my name on the ballot for a state organization's election this fall."
"Scheduled meeting with history prof to look at old books/maps he found while cleaning his department."
"Helping @ashuping test the mobile version of the library's website."
"Fun with MS Access 2007! :P"

Ok, those were my tweets today. Let's see what else I can remember:

Confirmed time for meeting with Digital Library of Georgia staff on Thursday.
Started outline for unconference preso.
Set up demo meeting with digitization vendor for next week.
Delegated returning a reference phone call to my assistant (excellent move on my part).
Rounded up a few boxes to be reshelved; delegated said reshelving.
Lunched with intern to celebrate completion of her project.
Chatted with intern about networking at professional conferences and getting involved with professional organizations.
Paid annual dues for ACA membership.
Answered (I think) a question about a name change of a campus department.

That's all I can think of for now!

Plagiarism Song (for Martha)

2010-07-02T15:00:00.002-04:00

Who’s Cheatin’ You
(parody of "Who’s Cheatin’ Who" by Jerry Hayes)

Anywhere you look, you can find a book
On the topic that your professor gave.
It’s easy as can be, and it’s all online for free:
Highlight, copy, paste, and save.

But still I wonder
Who's cheatin' you, when you’re untrue?
Does anybody care anymore?
It makes me wonder
Who's hitting heights with research tonight?
Who’s out stealing some more?

He thought he wrote so well that I really couldn’t tell
That he’d copied all the pages and the notes.
But the grammar wasn’t his; does he think that I’m a ditz?
I can tell which parts he wrote.

But still I wonder
Who's cheatin' you, when you’re untrue?
Does anybody care anymore?
It makes me wonder
Who's hitting heights with research tonight?
Who’s out stealing some more?

Yes, your grade is on the line each and every time
Words are stolen in the shadows of the night.
Though it's wrong all along you keep it going on,
And when I catch you, you put up a fight.

But still I wonder
Who's cheatin' you, when you’re untrue?
Does anybody care anymore?
It makes me wonder
Who's hitting heights with research tonight?
Who’s out stealing some more?

And the Rest Is History

2010-06-04T22:38:00.003-04:00

(I was asked to provide the devotional thoughts for this year's meeting of the Association of Librarians and Archivists at Baptist Institutions. Some of the participants asked if I would publish my remarks, so here they are.)

The book of Ezra recounts the story of the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem after the return of the Hebrews from the Babylonian captivity. Tattenai, the governor of Trans-Euphrates (where Judah and Jerusalem were located), became aware of the temple construction and feared political unrest. He began investigating the project and learned that there was supposedly a decree issued years before, during the reign of Cyrus, authorizing the rebuilding.

Reading from Ezra 5:17 through 6:4 - ¹⁷ Now if it pleases the king, let a search be made in the royal archives of Babylon to see if King Cyrus did in fact issue a decree to rebuild this house of God in Jerusalem. Then let the king send us his decision in this matter. ¹King Darius then issued an order, and they searched in the archives stored in the treasury at Babylon. ² A scroll was found in the citadel of Ecbatana in the province of Media, and this was written on it: Memorandum: ³ In the first year of King Cyrus, the king issued a decree concerning the temple of God in Jerusalem: Let the temple be rebuilt as a place to present sacrifices, and let its foundations be laid. It is to be ninety feet high and ninety feet wide, ⁴ with three courses of large stones and one of timbers. The costs are to be paid by the royal treasury.

In order to find out if there had indeed been a previous edict about the rebuilding of the temple, King Darius ordered a search of the royal records. The search was made not with computerized catalogs and keywords, but by careful unrolling and reading of the scrolls housed in Persia’s libraries and archives.

Although the search began in the libraries at Babylon, the decree was found in the archives at Ecbatana, almost three hundred miles away. I can tell you, the hand of God must have been on that search – I doubt any of us would have kept looking for so long!

Ecbatana’s cooler climate, relatively speaking, made it a pleasant place for the royals to spend their summers and an ideal climate for the storage of papyrus and leather scrolls. During the summer of 538BC, King Cyrus delivered his decree from the city, and the archival record was kept there. The citadel served as one of the repositories of the unchangeable laws of the Medes and Persians. In addition to the vital documents, gold, silver, jewels, precious stones, and other items of value were housed in the treasury.

Even today we, as archivists and librarians, are called to be keepers of historical and cultural treasures. Like our Middle Eastern forebears we are relied upon to provide three primary services:

First, we collect important documents and items of value. Our collections may not include royal decrees or temple treasures, but the books and items we hold are significant to our patrons.

Also, like the keepers of the royal treasury, we preserve these cherished items in secure, climate-controlled storage, ensuring their availability when the time comes for their use.

Our third role, and in my mind our most important, is the duty we have to provide access to our treasures. No longer locked away in fortresses and citadels, the information we retain is not ours to hoard but ours to share. As stewards of Baptist history, we minister to our patrons – churches, associations, genealogists, and scholars – by helping connect them to the collections we hold.

In putting my thoughts together for this devotional, I conducted an informal survey online, asking other librarians and archivists if they viewed our profession as a calling. Here is what some of them had to say:

“I think I see ‘helping people’ as a calling, and ‘preserving and making available the meaningful things people have created’ as a calling, and even ‘matching people to stories they will enjoy and information they find useful’ as a calling….”

“Yes, because I went into it with a whole different motivation. Before, I was aiming to use my skills for myself. Then there was a shifting, a letting go of thinking I was doing the providing. What I was already doing was being used for a different purpose.”

“While occasionally I have bad days, I am always happy I chose librarianship as my career. I can't see myself being happier or feeling more fulfilled in any other career but writing, and I do that on the side anyway. Learning is a passion of mine, and my work is a great fit.”

I challenge you today to remember your role as a steward of treasures. We are not called to be guards at the fortress but caretakers of the property we’ve been entrusted with. Although we ensure the safety of the items we hold, we do not clutch them to our chests. Instead we offer them with outstretched arms. We invite genealogists to connect with their pasts, churches with their stories, and students and scholars with the resources they need to continue making history.

I would like to close by reading the last stanza of Ferdinand Q. Blanchard’s hymn, “Word of God, Across the Ages.” To me, this song speaks to our calling as both Christians and keepers of history.

“In the tongues of all the peoples / May the message bless and heal,
As devout and patient scholars / More and more its depths reveal;
Bless, O God, to wise and simple,
All Thy truth of ageless worth,
Till all lands receive the witness / And Thy knowledge fills the earth.”

Thanks to each of you for your ministry.

A Response to My Response

2010-05-04T13:07:00.002-04:00

I received a reply to my previous post from Todd Gilman, author of the Chronicle piece on special collections curators, and I thought it was only fair to post it.

"Dear Laura,

Thanks for your comments.

FYI here is a transcription of the ad:

*****************************************************

The Gerald Coke Handel Collection at

THE foundling MUSEUM

40 Brunswick Square, London, WC1N 1AZ

Near Russell Square Underground Station.

Open: Tuesday-Saturday, 10am-5pm

Sunday 11am-5pm

The largest private collection of Handel memorabilia, housed alongside the Foundling Hospital collections.

020 7841 3600

enquiries@foundlingmuseum.org.uk

www.foundlingmuseum.org.uk

****************************************************

And FYI I went there on a Friday morning.

The collection is fully processed and arrayed on open shelves visible behind glass panels, not in a restricted area.

There is no computer workstation set up for researchers to use as far as I could tell, or I would have asked to search on my own.

I did not see any indication that I was expected to do anything other than turn up—nor would (or should) anyone else who saw that ad.

My position is best characterized by commentator #25:

‘Someone took out an ad to publicize the collection and invite the public (or at least those who bought the concert program) to view the collection. If that was done without the collection's knowledge, then shame on whoever approved the ad. Like Mr. Gilman, I take that as an extraordinary invitation and if that was my area of interest I too would make a special, impromptu visit. Had the curator said "I'm sorry, I wasn't aware that this opportunity was offered," Mr. Gilman might have been more sympathetic.’

Hope this helps clarify my position.

Regards,

Todd Gilman"

A Not-So-Gentle Reminder to Special Collections Researchers

2010-05-03T21:25:00.001-04:00

Prompted by "A Gentle Reminder to Special Collections Curators" by Todd Gilman, printed in The Chronicle of Higher Education, April 29, 2010. This piece rubbed me the wrong way, and it was even worse when I re-read it. I think I'll just go through the article and comment on what I see as the pros and cons of Dr. Gilman's experience. His text is italicized, and my thoughts are in bold. (I am not the only person to respond to this article, by the way; you can find other thoughts online and in the comments to the original article.)

"Over the years, I have had occasion to visit many special-collections libraries in the United States, Canada, and Britain, conducting research on 17th- and 18th-century literature and music. Many of those visits have been some of the most positive and memorable experiences I have had as a researcher since I entered a Ph.D. program in English in the late 1980s. The library I remember the most fondly is Huntington Library in San Marino, Calif., where I spent three glorious months on a postdoctoral fellowship in 1995. Everyone there was so kind and helpful that it was truly a joy to enter the building each morning."

So not all libraries are guarded by dragons. Good to know.

"Unfortunately, at other institutions I have had not-so-pleasant encounters. On top of that, students in a graduate book-history course I teach from time to time report a cold or condescending reception from curators when they have needed to read materials in preparing their final papers.

As an instructor, I cringe when I hear such reports from students, some of whom surely felt intimidated before even setting foot in a rare-book library. But far worse, as an academic librarian myself, I feel professionally affronted by such uncollegial behavior."

I agree, Dr. Gilman, that your graduate students should not receive a "cold or condescending reception from curators." As an archivist in an academic library, however, I would like to ask if you worked with the curators ahead of time? Did they know your students needed to use rare materials? If a visit to the archives was not possible during class time, did you invite the curator to speak to the students in your classroom or participate online? As an academic librarian, surely you have been visited by students who were not fully prepared by their professors for their assignments. Working together as teacher and librarian is much more useful than sending students to the archives "cold." I would expect significant advance preparation when working with a librarian who is also a professor, especially one who has taught the class before.

"If you have never visited a special-collections library, you might be wondering how such encounters play out. Let me describe my own recent run-in with an overprotective curator."

"Overprotective." Interesting. Let's find out more...

"In March I found myself in London attending a lovely evening concert that formed part of the 33rd London Handel Festival. As I flipped through my thick festival program, itself priced like a rare book at 10 pounds ($15—in addition to the cost of the concert ticket), my eye fell upon a half-page advertisement inviting readers to visit "the largest private collection of Handel memorabilia."

A $15 souvenir concert program? Hardly the cost of a rare book. But ok, go on with your story.

"As a long-term student of Handel's life and works, I have known about the collection for many years. I also knew that, back in the day, one had to contact the collector himself and ask to use the collection at his house—a prospect that seemed unimaginably daunting to me.

Yet now here it was, offered to the public! The advertisement went so far as to list the collection's hours, which even conveniently included weekend days, and noted the location, near the Russell Square Underground Station. My lingering sticker shock over the price of the program instantly yielded to feelings of euphoria akin to having discovered an old parchment map leading to the proverbial pirate's booty."

("Sticker shock"? Enough already.) Even though you don't name the collection, Dr. Gilman, it's easy enough to figure it out. The Foundling Museum's website lists its hours as "Tues. - Sat. 10am - 5pm, Sun. 11am - 5pm; closed on Mondays." The page specifically for the Gerald Coke Handel Collection tells us that "In addition to the public exhibition room, open during normal Museum hours, The Gerald Coke Handel Research Library is open Wednesday-Friday for research purposes by appointment."

"The next morning, my last in London, I laid aside my other plans and eagerly caught the Tube to the museum where the Handel collection was housed, bursting to take a look. When I entered the building and asked about the collection, the woman behind the ticket window looked at me a bit apprehensively but said nothing. Instead she made a phone call, whispered discreetly, then hung up and told me that the curator would be down in a moment."

I don't know which of the many Handel concerts you attended, so I have no way to know what day of the week you visited the museum (although later we will discover that it's one of the Tues. - Sat. days). However, you certainly didn't make a research appointment, Dr. Gilman.

"Immediately an alarm went off in my mind. "Oh no," I thought. "Why is the librarian coming down instead of inviting me up?" Before I knew it, a young English woman, perhaps 35 years old, was standing before me, unsmiling. She introduced herself, and I introduced myself, explaining that I was a researcher of 18th-century English music and theater and, as it happens, myself a librarian at Yale University. The institution's name, she said, "sounded familiar." Ignoring her warning shots, I asked to see the storied Handel collection."

Let's look at these words, shall we? "Alarm." "Unsmiling." "Warning shots." You appeared at this "storied collection" with no advance notice, no letter of introduction, possibly not even a business card. I don't blame her for not inviting you up.

"Predictably, my temerity triggered those dreaded words that steal over a researcher's heart like an icy hand; the words we librarians know as code for 'not on your life.'"

Smart woman.

"'Have you checked our online catalog?' she asked, already certain of the answer. 'No,' I replied calmly, trying not to reveal my desperation at knowing beyond the shadow of a doubt what was coming next. 'I only just learned of the availability of the collection last night when I saw an ad in my concert program.'

'Well, what are you looking for, exactly?' she rejoined, poised to deliver the final blow. 'We're not open to the public,' she sneered, reserving special emphasis for 'the public,' that vilest category of being. 'You can't just show up! You need to inquire, then make an appointment, you see.'"

Again with the word choices: "final blow," "sneered," vilest category of being." Yes, she could have offered to help you look through the catalog or to show you the public exhibition room. However, it's entirely possible that she was trying to catalog the collection when you appeared out of the blue.

"Lucky for me, having been through this before with many other librarians just like her, I was prepared."

Well, aren't we lucky that you knew how to "Handel" her?

"'Oh, really?' I replied mock-innocently. 'Then why does this half-page ad in the program state that you're open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today?' As I reached into my bag to produce the evidence, she realized the troops were advancing and she would be forced to bring out the heavy artillery.

Scowling, she sighed, 'Oh, all right. Come with me.'"

She's nicer than I would have been at this point. Disclaimer: I have not seen the program or the advertisement you saw. However, having worked with marketing staff, my guess is that the ad was for the museum as a whole, not specifically for the Handel collection. A savvy PR person, though, interested in increasing attendance, highlighted that collection in order to draw people to the museum. By placing the ad in a Handel concert program, it certainly reached its intended audience. I'm guessing the librarian had not seen the ad before you showed her the program. She almost certainly had not been given the chance to provide input on it before it went to press.

"As we got in to the elevator, she lobbed a new grenade. 'We're short staffed, you see. And I'm training someone today. Can you tell me exactly what it is you're after? You can't browse the collection because it's shelved by size, you see.'"

She was trying to be polite. Seriously, I wouldn't have taken you upstairs.

"Of course, as a librarian myself I realized that made no sense as an objection: It would be easy to browse the collection since all the books were neatly arrayed on open shelves. I didn't care what order they were in. I wanted to see what was there and could easily have done so if she had let me at them."

No offense, Dr. Gilman, but to an archivist, it makes perfect sense. Archival items are stored by size in a variety of manuscript, record, and oversize boxes, map cases, book shelves, artifact boxes, etc. An unprocessed collection like this one is probably scattered all over the workroom and shelves. Been there, done that, live with it daily.

"But clearly she had successfully used those same words in the past to discourage other hopeful researchers, which is doubtless why she tried them on me. She was even savvy enough not to wait for my comeback. She entered her office with me following, sat at her computer, and prompted me to feed her keywords she could use to search the catalog for me."

Yep. That's what we do in libraries, particularly in special collections and archives. We discourage hopeful researchers. Dadgum it, you're onto us. (Oh, and there's no way you would be in my office at this point.)

"Since she hadn't offered to let me search myself, I knew she was determined to make quick work of me. After perhaps three of her very narrow searches yielded nothing unique—only secondary sources I had seen before—I realized I wouldn't find anything useful unless I had the opportunity to search on my own, trying different approaches as I discovered the scope of the collection."

Wait. Didn't you just say you "fed" her the keywords? And earlier you said, "As a long-term student of Handel's life and works, I have known about the collection for many years." Perhaps you should have known better what terms to have her search for. In her office. When you didn't have an appointment.

"That was so obviously not going to happen that I finally just thanked her politely and turned to leave. I had been in her office perhaps five minutes. Realizing she had won her battle even more quickly than expected, she mumbled an apology about how it was just a bad day, what with her being short staffed and having to train a new person and all."

Chances are, she didn't see it as "winning her battle."

"And so the dragon succeeded in guarding the hoard."

Again with the words. Really, sir? (And may I remind you that the patron saint of England slew the dragon?)

"The worst part is that I honestly think she believed she was doing her job—that her behavior was justified because I was foolish enough to just 'turn up' expecting to use 'her' collection."

She did more than her job, Dr. Gilman. She invited you up to her office with no appointment and helped you search the catalog. You did "turn up" expecting to use an unprocessed collection.

"Let this, then, serve as a gentle reminder to rare-book curators that your job is not to keep readers from your books but just the opposite: to facilitate readers' use of the collections. If altruism or professional integrity aren't sufficient motivators to get you to play nice, you might consider the fact that you have a job only because people want to read what's in those collections, and you will keep your job for only as long as readers feel welcome to approach you to make use of the materials."

This scathing diatribe is hardly a "gentle reminder," kind sir. I would venture to guess that with prior notification and an appointment, the librarian would have gone even more out of her way to help you.

As archivists and special collections librarians, we walk a tightrope between allowing you access to the collection today and preserving it for the Gilmans of tomorrow. I am acquainted with the hoarding dragons as well as with their diametrical opposites, those who would allow unfettered access to all original materials.

To those who want every document in every archives digitized and available online, I say, "had we but world enough, and time," and server space, and IT professionals, and unlimited staff, and appropriate equipment, etc., many archivists would gladly oblige. But we would still preserve the original documents for the use of your children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren who might not have access to computers, much less digital files. (If I offered you images on 5.25" floppy disks, could you open them at home tonight?)

I think most of us in libraries and archives care about both the resources AND the researcher. We try to bring them together safely and efficiently. Articles like Dr. Gilman's serve only to make my job harder and to reinforce negative stereotypes of librarians who don't want you touching the books. Yes, special collections have different rules and regulations because the items are SPECIAL for a reason.

Huh. Guess I didn't really find too many "pros" to point out, did I?

Random Day in the Life

2010-03-01T08:42:00.015-05:00

No, it's not time for an official round of "day in the life" postings, but I'm doing this one for myself. It's Monday, and I've been at work for about 45 minutes. So far I've:

chatted with a colleague about some boxes in the mail room
gone through email
perused a campus newspaper before filing it
cranked up iTunes for some motivational music
jotted down the call number of a book I want from the stacks

I'll update this throughout the day, I hope.

checked out the book
rescheduled afternoon meetings (maybe)
approved vacation days for my assistant; put them on calendar
researched info on copyright and unpublished 19th century documents
looked up an obituary for a researcher; photocopied page for biographical file
helped ILL student find a periodical
asked assistant to create bio file on man whose obit I looked up
made to-do list
emailed legal counsel about copyright and letters
answered email about church history booklets
printed materials for university files
printed items to review for afternoon meeting
looked over spreadsheet pertaining to a collections shift
proofed document on library closings (for inclement weather and such); delivered to author
returned paper clips and binder clips to supply closet
put a flyer on an upcoming exhibit in the staff lounge
looked up a possible speaker for a campus group
found project for student assistant to work on
responded to an email about an upcoming research conference on campus
worked on newsletter that needs to be mailed ASAP

Lunch break.

back to newsletter
meeting prep
two meetings
chatted with assistant about instruction session he handled today
emailed faculty member about upcoming instruction session

That's about it!

Customer Service 2.0

2010-02-02T15:06:00.002-05:00

Last week as part of my Library Day in the Life posts I mentioned on Twitter that I had ordered some boxes for the archives. According to the sales rep, they weren't going to be available until March 16. A library colleague in another state saw my tweet and replied that she must have ordered the same boxes. I responded to her (in my public Twitter feed) yesterday with "Acid-free storage boxes from Gaylord? I can't believe they're going to take that long!"

Today I received an email from a Group Product and Merchandising Manager with Gaylord Bros. who had seen my tweet. My boxes are shipping today. Way to go, Gaylord! I'm glad they took the time to search for mentions of their name and to track me down. If you buy library and archives supplies, let me recommend them. And if you want to follow them on Twitter, as I now do, they can be found at @GaylordBros.

Library Day in the Life, round 4

2010-01-25T09:43:00.002-05:00

It's time again to see what those crazy librarians are up to! Hooray!

Library Day in the Life wiki

"C is for Challenge" at "T is for Training"

2010-01-07T13:58:00.005-05:00

Maurice at "T is for Training" has issued a challenge to the TifT Google Group to answer each of the following questions in a sentence or less.

Here goes nothing!

1) Your One Sentence Bio
I'm a zany archivist in the middle of Georgia.

2) Do you blog? If yes, how did you come up with your blog name?
Yes, I found "superstar" when looking for "words ending in -ar" that I could add to "archivist."

3) What is your professional background?
Music librarian/archivist at a music museum, archivist of popular music collection at a state university, now a university archivist.

4) What training do you do? staff? patrons? types of classes?
I'm not really a trainer, but I do work with student assistants in the archives and teach the occasional instruction session for undergraduates.

5) What training do you think is most important to libraries right now?
I'm a big fan of anything that takes trainees (in my case, students) to the next level of independence and helps them find things on their own.

6) Where do you get your training?
Workshops and listening to the "T is for Training" podcast.

7) How do you keep up?
I don't; I do use RSS feeds and other people's FriendFeed links, though, to see what's happening.

8) What do you think are the biggest challenges libraries are facing right now?
Lack of financial resources and a fear of change among some of our leadership.

9) What are biggest challenges for trainers?
See number 8.

10) What exciting things are you doing training wise?
Nothing I can think of, but I'm looking forward to going to a workshop next month on undergraduate research.

11) What do you wish were you doing?
Right this minute, I'd rather be sitting on a beach.

12) What would you do with a badger?
I would feed it very carefully.

13) What's your favorite food?
Anything chocolate.

14) If you were stranded on an island, what one thing would you want to have with you?
A potable water treatment system.

15) Do you know what happens when a grasshopper kicks all the seeds out of a pickle?
Seven redheaded unicorns, because a ladder goes two ways.

16) Post it notes or the back of your hand?
Post-its; I have a thing for office supplies.

17) Windows or Mac?
Windows.

18) Talk about one training moment you'd like to forget?
Can't think of anything right now.

19) What's your take on handshakes?
I prefer hugs.

20) Global warming: yes or no?
On a cold day like today, I say, "Bring it on!"

21) How did you get into this line of work?
I've posted about it before.

22) Why is the best part of your job?
I'm guessing Maurice really means "what" instead of "why," and I'll say it's the wide variety of things I get to do.

23) Why should someone else follow in your shoes?
If you have a passion for connecting researchers with sources, archives are a great place to work.

24) Sushi or hamburger?
Hamburger, please, with cheese.

25) LSW or ALA?
LSW, of course!

26) What one person in the world do you want to have lunch with and why?
My friend Angie in Colorado; I haven't seen her in almost 20 years, and we need to catch up.

27) What cell phone do you have and why?
A Samsung Juke; I wanted one I could use as an mp3 player, and I really like it.

Happy New Year from A to Z

2010-01-05T20:29:00.007-05:00

Inspired by recent postings from the Hedgehog Librarian and the Guardienne of the Tomes, this is my first inspirational blog post for 2010. I liked what both of them had to say, and while I don't claim to possess their ways with words, here is my own feeble attempt. I'm stealing the Hedgehog's idea of "A Year of 'Up.'" Thank you, Ms. Hedgehog!

My 2010 "Up" Alphabet

Ante up: commit, follow through, and finish tasks.

Back up: provide support.

Call up: stay in touch with friends.

Dig up: scan and scrapbook photos from the past.

Eat up: try to have more fruits and veggies.

Fire up: get enthused about projects, and encourage others to see things in a positive light.

Give up: donate stuff I don't need.

Help (someone) up: be aware of others' needs, and meet them when possible.

Irish up, don't get my: stay calm.

Jump up: volunteer.

Kick it up: try something new - learn a new crochet stitch, listen to new (to me) music, etc.

Look up: spend time in prayer and meditation.

Move up: set and meet professional development goals.

Neaten up: keep the house and office under better control with a little effort each day.

Open up: share what I know. Be available. Listen.

Push up: try to get more exercise.

Queue up: arrange, organize, and prioritize tasks.

Rest up: get enough sleep.

Saddle up: travel somewhere new.

Talk it up: promote ideas and events at work and church.

Use up: don't buy new things until the old ones are gone.

Vacuum up: tackle the dog hair more often.

Wake up: get moving a little faster in the morning.

eXpect "up": forgive me; I just couldn't find one for X, so I'll just go for anticipating positive things!

Yuk it up: laugh more!

Zip it up: shut up and listen.

What Exactly Do I Want from Social Networks?

2009-12-18T14:40:00.000-05:00

I just finished reading Julie Powell's book, Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Some of my favorite lines were not about her cooking project itself but about Powell's experience as a new blogger. Her remarks included such gems as:

"Oh, and I also know that when you've gotten a night of sleep, no matter how tear-stained, and then some bolstering from people who love you - or 'love' you, or whatever - even if they're people you've never met, sometimes the end of the world doesn't seem like that anymore. Like the end, I mean."
"It is a comfort to have friends, maybe especially friends you will never meet."
"I don't mean this to be arrogance; in fact, I don't think it has a whole lot to do with me one way or the other. I think what it means is, people want to care about people. People look after one another, given the chance."
"And I figure, maybe just believing in goodness generates a tiny bit of the stuff, so that by being so foolish as to believe in our better natures, if just for a day, we actually contribute to the sum total of generosity in the universe."

Compare these thoughts to what Robert Scoble recently had to say about social site FriendFeed. He linked to a search for posts with five or more comments, followed by, "Just for anyone who is looking for a conversation. Me? I'm looking to get smarter. I wish there were a filter for smart conversations because most of these are, while entertaining, not making me smarter about anything."

He went on to say:

"...finding good conversations is very difficult. Most of the conversations on FriendFeed are pablum, sorry."
"I don't want to talk about everything in the world that's happening to everyone. Maybe you want to talk about Tiger Woods and his problems or how someone smashed their fingers, but I don't. I'm looking for something smarter."
" If you read that [world news from Twitter feeds] it's more focused and makes you smarter. Here? I don't find I'm getting smarter. I find I'm spending time having fun, maybe, but not getting smarter."
"I read books too (even have a Kindle so I can buy most anybook and read it immediately), but they make me smart about something that happened 12 months ago (or longer)."
"...the thing is the traffic here has NOT been going up and I'm trying to communicate why. Most people look at FriendFeed and don't see the conversations. Then, if they do find the conversations they see a bunch of noise. FriendFeed is fun for my brother, but not for people like me who are looking for something more specific."
"I tried for 18 months to get everyone to use FriendFeed. I failed and will continue to do so because most people don't want to have conversations with people they don't know. That's the secret sauce on Facebook. You know everyone you talk with (mostly)."

Well, Superstarchivist? What do you want from your social networking sites? Do you want to get smarter? Do you want a community of people who care about each other? Do you want something entirely different?

I decided to see what the Oxford English Dictionary had to say about the adjective "social." Various meanings were listed, including:

"Of a group of people, an organization, etc.: consisting or composed of people associated together for friendly interaction or companionship."
"Marked or characterized by friendliness, geniality, or companionship with others; enjoyed, taken, carried out, etc., in the company of others."
"Of a human being: living or disposed to live in groups or communities; naturally inclined to be in the company of others. Also of a person's nature: characterized by a need to live in groups or communities."
"Of an animal: living or tending to live in communities of individuals of the same species which cooperate with one another to their mutual or collective benefit; of or relating to such animals; esp. designating insects (such as ants and bees) or other animals which live in highly organized associations, often with adaptation of individuals to distinct roles or activities."
"Of an activity or policy: carried out to improve the condition of society or for the benefit of society as a whole."

I use different social sites in different ways. I don't find and follow "new" people on Facebook. If we connect there, it's because we've already "met" online or in person. I have found new people through Twitter, but I really don't use it all that often anymore. Most of my social interaction occurs through FriendFeed or the Library Society of the World chatroom. I've made new friends through seeing others' comments and likes in FriendFeed, and I've had the pleasure of meeting some of them in person.

I think I lean more toward using social sites for community (like Julie Powell) than for getting smarter (like Robert Scoble). Granted, if I have a professional question, I have a network of librarians/archivists I can ask, but that's not my primary purpose in online networking. That said, none of my online interactions are making me less smart. Maybe I don't get my world news through my Twitter feed, but I certainly get plenty of good ideas and food for thought from my "invisible friends in the computer."

Oh, and last weekend, I watched Robert Scoble's brother get married in Oregon via a livestream from a webcam. So, Robert, thank you for your thoughts, and I'll keep interacting with your brother on FriendFeed.

What I've Learned

2009-11-11T09:34:00.000-05:00

Today's posting comes from 37 years on this crazy little planet. I cannot take credit for the ideas below, but I hope you'll find them helpful. They were shared with me throughout my life by teachers, friends, and family who made lasting impressions. Feel free to add your own thoughts in the comments.

Praise in public; criticize in private (and do so positively even then).
Don't bring up the problem until you can propose a solution.
Listen.
Make somebody else feel like the most important person in the room, but do it sincerely.
You have something in common with every person you meet. It may take some time to find it, but it's in there.
You matter. Would you treat others the way you treat yourself? Probably not.
Take the time to find out something about somebody else. Connect.
Hire good people. Trust them to do their jobs.
"Get it looking as good as you can as fast as you can." (from an archives workshop on donor relations)
Smile.
Say "please" and "thank you."
When in doubt, ask.
Let your passion shine through.
Sparkle!
"You know more than they do." (offered by a colleague when I was nervous about my first library instruction session)
Give it back, or pay it forward. If you share when you can, others will share with you in your time of need.
You never have to say something in an ugly or meanspirited way.
Help people.
Try not to turn someone away empty-handed. "Let me find out" or "let me show you" is better than "I don't know." (learned in the library world)
Lead the way. "Come with me!" is more helpful than trying to give directions. (learned in a customer service workshop)
You can be an administrator without being a leader.
Say "I'm sorry," and admit mistakes.
It's ok to be human.
You can't do it alone. That's ok. It doesn't make you weak to admit that!
Try to understand. If you can't empathize, sympathize. (And sometimes that's all you can do.)
You don't have to memorize it if you know where to look it up.
The right kind of humor helps most situations. Don't go for the laugh at someone else's expense, though.
Pray. Meditate. Center. Focus.
Be grateful.
Let people know you appreciate what they do for you.
Do something thoughtful and unexpected.
Be a mentor.
Get involved.
Encourage.
Keep your promises.
Read something in print every day.
Leave it better than you found it.
Ask how you can help, then do it.

The trouble with this kind of posting is knowing where and how to end it. So, in the immortal words of Daffy Duck (from "Robin Hood Daffy"), "Yoiks and away!"

DO ANYBODY NO?

2009-10-30T10:58:00.000-04:00

DO ANYBODY NO...

why sometimes thoughts and words flow faster from ink to paper than from keyboard to screen? Am I giving myself permission to scribble a rough draft that I would fret over on screen? Is it just because I feel like I can write faster than I type? Does the skritch of the pen ("skritch" stolen from somebody on FriendFeed, but so true) just feel more conducive to the setting down of words than does the click of a keyboard? Is it because my notebook paper isn't trying to auto-correct words like "skritch"?

why sometimes you can go forever without a blog idea and then decide to tackle three at once?

why I'm hesitant to blog about myself? It's not that I don't want to share some piece of myself with the world - it's just that I feel vain writing about myself. Other people in the library & archives world have deep insights into the profession. They pose and answer difficult questions. Others share their posts, then, with colleagues or blog their own replies to these writers. I like to read those blogs, but I don't feel like I'm that kind of writer. (And please don't get me wrong, I love my job and my profession. I'm just not sure what I have to contribute professionally to the blogosphere at this point.) If you're supposed to "write what you know," well, this is it. I know me. (PS: I like the name of this blog but still feel kind of snobby about it. I really don't see myself as a superstar. I looked up words ending with "ar" one day that I could link with "archives" or "archivist," and "superstar" just happened to catch my eye.)

why FriendFeeders have such cute babbies? Grays, Moskovitzes, and Worthingtons, I'm looking at you.

why this is the end of blog steam for this post?

It's time for another "Library Day in the Life" update!

2009-07-31T13:30:00.001-04:00

Yesterday I jotted down a few notes about what I must admit was a remarkably productive day.

Completed time sheets for my students and staff.
Talked to the carpet installers about their plan of attack for the archives. Helped move a few things out of their way and open doors.
Printed, sorted, and counted correspondence from June.
Processed an order for one of our for-sale books.
Delegated a couple of reference questions; answered a couple myself.
Updated the draft of a proposal for my boss.
Moved books out of an antique desk in preparation for carpeting in that area.
Received a request from a colleague who wanted to borrow a student assistant for a project.
Compiled statistics for an annual report.
Attended a lunch planning meeting.
Printed items for our vertical files (biographical and university).
Received a request for an obituary. Found, scanned, and emailed to happy (librarian) patron.
Worked more on proposal.
Took student assistant to meet colleague who needed help.
Met with boss.
Ended workday, and went to see the new Harry Potter movie.

If you will notice, even though I work in a library, I *did not* read all day!

Customer Service FAIL.

2009-06-06T12:53:00.013-04:00

This week, I rented a car for the first time. Seriously. I've never needed to rent one before, but I was traveling for business, and renting was a cheaper option than a mileage reimbursement. My place of work uses Enterprise for all their car rental needs. I called the office on Riverside Drive in Macon, Georgia, and reserved a vehicle, requesting something compact. (I was nervous enough about being responsible for somebody else's car, and it was no time to have to maneuver a big vehicle!) The lady who helped with the booking was very nice, I must say.

On Monday, I went to pick up the car. I had finished earlier than I expected at the chiropractor, so I went on to Enterprise. I asked the gentleman at the counter if I could go ahead and get the car or if I should wait an hour for my original time. He assured me that it would be no problem to pick it up immediately. However, the car was still at the shop, about two miles away, getting an oil change. I would have to go to the shop and get the car. Ok, I could do that. My husband (Mr. B) was with me, and the two of us rode with the E'prise representative to the shop where the rented Toyota Corolla was waiting, then Mr. B and I drove back to E'prise to pick up my car from the lot. During this short trip, we noticed the "Maintenance Required" light was on.

Back at E'prise, I popped in and asked if they could tell me about the light. They assured me that the car was fine, having just had an oil change, and that it was safe to drive. I reminded them that I would be driving out of state for a week and asked if they could reset the light. I told them I wanted to make sure it would come on if I had a problem. They finally decided that wasn't a bad idea and reset it for me. I had also noticed there was 1/4 of a tank of gas available, and I asked if they were going to fill up the car. No, they said, because you only need to bring it back with 1/4 of a tank when you're done. Ok, whatever. (Edit: I have since learned that this is common practice now in the rental car world. I was just surprised because I had heard horror stories in the past about people being charged exorbitant fees for not filling the tank before returning the car.)

I headed on out of town, stopping for lunch and to fill up the gas tank. There were no further adventures; the car handled well on the interstate and was easy to drive.

The next day, Tuesday, I headed to my first meeting in Nashville, TN. I stopped to fill up the car and grab lunch. As I was planning to pull out of the Krystal parking lot, I noticed a little light on the dash that I hadn't seen before. It looked to me like an exclamation point inside a cauldron, rather like (_!_). Hmmm. I checked for an owner's manual in the glove compartment, but it was empty. I then called Mr. B to see if he had any ideas. No, he hadn't seen a light like that. I also called a friend who has rented cars before to see if he knew. Yes, he had seen that light before on a trip, but he couldn't recall exactly what it meant. Maybe something to do with tires, but whatever it was hadn't affected his trip. Ok.

I called the E'prise I had rented from to ask what to do. The person who answered the phone said, "Oh, that's a tire pressure light. It comes on in about 90% of the cars we rent. It's really sensitive, and if one tire is a pound lower than the others, that comes on. It's not a big deal. You'll be fine." Ok, at least I knew what it was now. Still in the Krystal parking lot, I got out of the car, eyeballed all four tires to make sure they looked ok, and headed back out to the interstate. (My first thought was, "If this comes on nine times out of ten when somebody drives off your lot, you might want to tell the renter about that little light."

The car still handled fine, and I made it to Nashville without difficulty. It rained a little on the outskirts of town, but I checked into the hotel, parked in the underground garage, and went on my merry way. I stopped by the site of the next day's meeting to chat with some friends, then met an online friend for dinner. After we ate and chatted, I went back to the hotel, where I ran into some fellow conference attendees with whom I talked, Mr. & Mrs. W. They're from Florida, and I had spoken at a meeting for them earlier in the spring. The Ws told me about their rental car adventures that day (they had run over a tire in the road and had some minor difficulties and delays), and I told them about mine. They knew what the little light meant, having had tire troubles with a previous rental car.

On Wednesday, I spent twelve hours in meetings. For real. I did not, however, have to use the car at all.

Thursday morning marked the end of that conference. I took a bag down to the car, secured it in the trunk, and went back into the hotel for breakfast. One last trip to my room for a toothbrushing and final packing, then I headed back to the garage with my other bag. I opened the front passenger door to put some items on the seat, and I happened to look down. What is this? Oh, that would be a flat tire. A COMPLETELY FLAT TIRE. Not a pound low. All the way down to the ground flat. Ugh.

I locked the car again and headed back up to the lobby. I asked the receptionist if there was someone who could help, and she gave me the name of a local shop they used for service. I thanked her and went to call Mr. B. He suggested calling the renting E'prise facility to find out what they suggested. I did so, reminding the person who answered that I had called on Tuesday about the mystery light. (I don't think I ever talked to the same E'prise person twice, by the way. That place must be swarming with employees.) He was sorry to hear about the flat and said that if I could find a can of Fix-A-Flat, I could just use that. I told him I was in downtown Nashville and was unable to drive the car, so that wouldn't be possible. He then suggested I try the nationwide road assistance number on the back of my rental contract.

I called that number and told the lady on the other end about my plight. She offered to send someone to change the tire. We were working our way through the service call, and she said, "And that will be sixty-one dollars applied to your rental when you return the car." Um, excuse me? What did you just say? I laughed at her, said there was no way my place of work would pay that, and promptly declined the service. I'm a AAA auto club member, so I then called the number on my card. The AAA lady was very helpful, making sure I had a safe place to wait (yes, I'm in a hotel, not by the side of the road) while she reported the problem. She got my cell number and told me someone should be there within 45 minutes. I asked her what the charge would be. "Oh, it's free. Just make sure you have a photo ID and your AAA card." Excellent.

I saw some other people who were heading to my last conference session and told them about the problem. I figured at least that way somebody would know why I wasn't at the meeting! I then headed back down to the parking garage to begin waiting. I got my luggage out of the trunk and put it in the back seat, then headed to the garage entrance to keep an eye out for my knight in shining AAA armor. About 40 minutes later, I got a call. AAA was letting me know I was next on the list for service. Okey-doke, not a problem. I waited in a doorway out of the drizzle. The next call was the AAA repairman letting me know he was heading across Nashville to me and confirming my location. He called again when he arrived at the hotel, and I directed him to the parking garage.

He put the spare tire on for me and laughed when I told him about what E'prise wanted to charge. Well, he laughed after he got over his shock. First he said, "Really? $61? But they call *us* to change people's tires! It's no wonder people are going out of business. $61 in this economy," and then he shook his head. I thanked him for his help, got in the car, and drove around the corner to my conference. I snuck in toward the end of the session and mouthed "flat tire" to those who wondered where I was. Somebody I had talked to on the phone during all of the adventures told me I could travel up to 3,000 miles at no more than 55mph on the spare tire. I planned a slow trip to Huntsville.

After our business session, the conference attendees had lunch. I was updating my Florida friends on the tire situation when Mr. W said, "Why didn't they just tell you to find the closest Firestone? Enterprise has a service contract with them. You don't need to drive on that spare all the way to Huntsville and back to Georgia." He asked one of the meeting hosts where the nearest Firestone was, and it turned out there was one within just a few blocks. Mr. W said, "We'll go over there with you and see if they can't fix that tire. We've had to use Firestone before with some rental car troubles." I asked if there would be a charge, and he said he had never had to pay.

We finished lunch and went to Firestone. I explained to the man at the counter what I needed and told him it was an E'prise rental car. He looked at the contract, entered information in the computer, and pulled up the billing screen. They only listed a few E'prise locations in Georgia, all around the Atlanta area. My location wasn't listed, and he asked which of the others was the closest. He then decided to call a Nashville E'prise location, and the person there told the Firestone guy to send him the bill and said they would handle it from there. I sat with Mr. and Mrs. W for about half an hour or so while we waited for the tire to be patched. When it was done, I signed a work order for them, asked if I needed to do anything when I turned the car in, and was told that I didn't.

I drove down to Huntsville without any trouble at all. The tire pressure light was off and remained off through the trip. The car handled well in the intermittent rain and at interstate speeds.

Today, I turned in the car. (Edit: I decided to add a few more details here. I noticed on the contract that no notation had been made about my calling about the tire pressure light or the flat tire. Nothing was mentioned about seeing a note in the computer, either. I didn't say anything about the tire. However, I stupidly pointed out a chip/star in the windshield that I had just noticed on Monday. It may or may not have happened during my trip; I can't say for sure. However, if I hadn't mentioned it, the E'prise rep would not have noticed. And what did I get as thanks? A $40 "miscellaneous charge" on my rental contract and the assurance that if the windshield breaks after they try to repair it, my place of work will get the bill. Today's to-do list includes composing an email recounting all of these stories to various members of our administration.)

I was relieved to be done with that little adventure and hope I never have to rent from Enterprise again.

(Edit: I decided to specify that the renting office was on Riverside Drive in Macon, Georgia, after telling co-workers about my problems. Two of them told me they had stopped using that branch because of all the difficulties they had encountered. Apparently other branches in Macon are not as bad. Still, if I have the option, I will not use Enterprise at all in the future.)

Your Award-Winning Superstarchivist!

2009-03-24T19:02:00.001-04:00

I can't believe I won! I am somebody! See my profile at www.shoversandmakers.net to find out what I'm going on about.

The spring of our discontent*

2009-03-16T09:56:00.003-04:00

*Well, not so much "discontent," really, as just a lot going on!

Here's my schedule for the next few months. Sadly, I can't really delegate any of it. I know this isn't terribly busy by some of your standards, but it is for me. I don't think I've ever had so many meetings to travel to so close together.

This week:

instruction session for first-year seminar students tomorrow in Special Collections. They'll be back as a class a few more times, and some of them may return on their own to work on projects. No idea yet what said projects will involve.
meeting of the Society of Georgia Archivists' Nominating Committee in Atlanta.

Next week:

Management meeting off-campus.
Meeting of the Georgia Baptist Historical Society in Special Collections (I get to host and give a paper).
Donor and person from alumni office coming to visit.
Fly to Wisconsin for a few days of vacation.

Mid-April:

Travel to Florida (not near the beach; boo) for the meeting of the Florida Baptist Historical Society. Give same paper as at Georgia meeting. (At some point finish editing paper for publication.)

Early June:

Travel to Nashville for the meeting of the Association of Librarians and Archivists at Baptist Institutions (ALABI). Present on "user-centered archives" with one of our researchers.
Travel from Nashville to Huntsville for the Baptist History and Heritage Society meeting (no responsibilities . . . yet).

Ongoing:

Springtime academic events - Honors Day, Baccalaureate, Commencement, etc.

It's nice to see all those things listed in one place. I suppose I can tackle them the same way one eats an elephant!

And how about you? What's going on in your world?

Tasty Cake Recipe

2009-03-10T18:43:00.002-04:00

Since some of my FriendFeedlings asked for the recipe for the cake Mr. B and I made last week, here it is. Enjoy!

Tasty Cake

2 cups flour
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsps. baking powder
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 8 oz. Hershey Bar (more is better)
1 cup peanut butter (we used creamy)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9"x13" cake pan.

Mix flour, salt, and baking powder in a bowl; set aside. Cream eggs and sugar. Add milk and vanilla. Add flour mixture to egg mixture and incorporate.

Bake 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven, and spread peanut butter on hot cake. Let cool until peanut butter is firm; you can put it in the refrigerator or freezer for a few minutes. Melt Hershey Bar (microwave is fine). Spread chocolate over peanut butter. Let cool again. Serve and enjoy!

Friday Afternoon Grins & Giggles

2009-01-30T16:20:00.000-05:00

This afternoon's highlight was listening to/chatting in "T Is for Training." If you haven't checked it out yet, you should!

Other than that, I've been answering some email reference questions and counting photocopies in order to bill a researcher. At present I'm doing some research into the possibility of uploading some of our photographs into Flickr. If your institution is doing that, please let me know. I'm sure I have questions for you.

Well, I think it's time to call it a week, at least as far as these postings are concerned. Thank you all for joining in the fun! Enjoy your weekend!

Friday at Last!

2009-01-30T11:00:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the end of the "week in the life" postings. Aren't you glad it's Friday? (And orange you glad I didn't say, "banana"?)

Today is off to a rather slow start. So far I've chatted with a reference colleague about a history class we're teaching together next week (methods of historical research kind of thing) and with our systems guru about the best way to put some of our photos online. Time to do something productive! See you in a bit!

Even More Thursday Fun!

2009-01-29T16:05:00.002-05:00

What have I been up to since lunch? I'm not exactly sure; this sinus thing has me in a bit of a fog. However, I do remember scanning and emailing some pictures for a researcher, helping a graduate student from another school with a church history project, answering questions for a student worker, talking to the 84-year-old about two boxes of material he's working on, and spending a good bit of time arranging photograph files on an external hard drive. Whee!

I can't imagine the next hour being much more exciting than that, so this may be the last post for today. :)

Thursday, continued

2009-01-29T12:00:00.001-05:00

I have a few minutes before lunch, so I'll bring you up to speed.

The Homecoming meeting was run well. We have a vice president who has a real knack for problem-solving and keeping people on task. There was some debate over where to have the tailgate/lunch event before the basketball game, and he asked if we could come to consensus and "agree with enthusiasm" before dismissing. (In the end the discussion was referred to a new subcommittee, but I liked the way he put that.) It lasted about an hour and 15 minutes, which wasn't bad for a meeting like that.

I came back and tackled one more thank-you note I missed from yesterday's pile. I also responded to some email and prepared some documents for filing. I talked to the dean this morning, and we agreed we didn't have anything to talk about at our weekly meeting, so we eliminated it for the week. This afternoon I hope I have time to scan some yearbook photos for one researcher and email another a follow-up message about his request. I also need to formulate some questions about using Flickr to showcase archival collections to send to a virtual friend and colleague (thank goodness for social software!).

See you after lunch!

Fourth Day in the Life

2009-01-29T09:45:00.001-05:00

Hello!

This is Thursday, the fourth day in the "library day in the life" blog emphasis. Thus far today I have crawled into the office and read email. A glance at the calendar reminded me that I have a 10:00 Homecoming Committee meeting, so I don't want to start any big projects this morning. I'm importing some CDs into iTunes and going through some mail from my desk right now. I'm also planning to go to the break room and fix some cocoa - the sore throat and headache have been joined by congestion today, and chocolate makes everything better (right?).

It is also student timesheet day, so I'll pick up their time cards when I go downstairs.

Now working on timesheets. Researcher has arrived. Emailed admin. asst. and former student worker who wants to return about what we do next (find out if she qualifies for work study).

Timesheets are done but now need to be copied and delivered to the admin. asst. We only do this every two weeks, but somehow it seems like EVERY Thursday!

Off to the meeting! More later.

Wonderful Wednesday, part two

2009-01-28T16:45:00.000-05:00

After lunch and visits to the chiropractor and allergist, I'm back! I think it will be a pretty quiet afternoon. One student worker has come and gone, and another is working on the files of a women's college that merged with our university in the 1980s. I just highlighted terms in email and article printouts for other students to file if they appear.

I'm hoping to write some thank-you notes I've been putting off for no good reason. Baptist associations within the state often send us a copy of their meeting minutes to retain in the archives. These are invaluable for church historians, and it would be nice of me to thank them.

The maintenance guy just came to look at our remote door latch; of course it's working fine now that he's here! He thinks there's just interference with the radio frequency our remotes use. It's as good an explanation as any, I suppose.

Now back to my thank-you notes... (time passes). Yay! They're finally done! Copies made for filing; letters taken to mailroom. Ahhhh. It's nice to finish a task you've been putting off!

And with only 15 minutes left in my workday, I think I'll go change into my workout clothes. See you tomorrow, I hope!

Wonderful Wednesday, part one

2009-01-28T11:00:00.000-05:00

Good morning, faithful readers! Thank you for joining me for today's escapades in the archives. Today is day 3 of the "day in the life" series of postings. It is almost 8:30am, and my day is off to a slow start. I have a raging sore throat, but I'm at the office. I feel fine other than that, so I don't know what's going on. (Update - I now have a headache, too.)

Today is Wednesday, which means Special Collections is closed to the public, and my two assistants are both off. I may have some student workers appear later in the day, however. So far today I have dropped off two bags of trash at our local recycling center, made it to work, caught up with Twitter and FriendFeed, and started plowing through work email. I think it's time for some caffeine of the fizzy variety! (I'm not a coffee drinker.)

Rather than yesterday's play-by-play, I think I'll just summarize today's achievements, such as they are.

The only email I have to act on is one inviting me to write an article for the newsletter of the Archivists of Religious Collections Section for the Society of American Archivists. Apparently I volunteered to do that on last year's membership survey. I'm sure it seemed like a good idea at the time! I only need to write a paragraph or so according to the email. But what shall I say? Just looked over some back issues of the newsletter, Archival Spirit. Looks like most folks submit information on new collections or projects they are undertaking. I'll have to think about something regarding our Baptist collections to share; most of our recent acquisitions have related more to our university side.

Yesterday's pile-sorting and inbox-cleaning yielded a couple of checks and a book order for the Georgia Baptist Historical Society. I've prepared a deposit slip, copied the checks, updated our membership list, mailed the books, and sent the checks/deposit slip to the bank. While I was in the mailroom, I discovered that my recent Gaylord supply order has arrived, so I brought the boxes upstairs. I'll let a student unpack them later and make sure everything is accounted for. I also chatted with some folks from Technical Services while I was downstairs. Special Collections can be pretty quiet, so it's nice to visit other departments when I can.

Weather check: 64F and rainy. I need to go out for an allergy shot, but I'm also going out at lunchtime and again to the chiropractor this afternoon. I think I'll wait and get the shot after I go to the chiro. Just spent some time reading other people's "day in the life" postings. Librarians and archivists do a lot of neat things! And I'm always relieved to see that other folks procrastinate (like I do) and struggle to find projects for their student assistants (like I do). It's nice to know you aren't alone in this business.

Our dean mentioned an Educause e-book in our library management group meeting the other day. I thought the title sounded familiar, so I looked it up. Yes, I recalled correctly - my former office-mate and I cited it in our article for the 2006 issue of Provenance, the journal of the Society of Georgia Archivists. Maybe I'll check out the print version instead of trying to skim the online copy again. I haven't read it in several years.

Ok. I have an hour until lunch. I think I'll work on a paper I have to write and present this spring. I'll go ahead and post this much now; hopefully I can add more this afternoon. Enjoy your day!

Tuesday in the Archives

2009-01-27T16:35:00.000-05:00

Week in the Life, day 2

Here are today's antics. Enjoy! (And pardon my tense-switching.)

6:25am - Alarm goes off. Ignore until 6:45, then get up. Dress for work and pack clothes for workout, eat some oatmeal, and head out the door about 7:20. It's very foggy today.

8:00-8:30 - Arrive at work. Find parking spot. Put lunch (egg salad sandwiches-to-be) in fridge. Haul self and stuff to third floor. Open department and boot computer (this happens in stages). Turn on space heater. Check voice mail - one message from yesterday afternoon that I missed. Good - I can delete that one. Check email - about 15 new messages, but that includes ads and spam notifications. Respond to one message; print out newsletter draft for assistant to check. Scroll through Chronicle of Higher Ed email; nothing I want to click through today. Quick romp through Twitter and FriendFeed.

8:30-9:00 - Make lunch plans for tomorrow. IM friend. Email former student who created newsletter draft to thank him. Proofread document for colleague. Delete canceled meeting from online calendars. Boot up iTunes. Chat with building steward about recycling program in library.

9:00-9:30 - Let researcher and student assistant from other department in. Show student where books go that she is delivering. Continue proofreading. Take document downstairs.

9:30-10:30 - Chat with reference staff about various topics. Pop ibuprofen for sinus headache. IM another friend. Look up address to send a book order. Pack box of books.

10:30-11:00 - Check email. Forward scholarship info to my student assistants in case they have an interest. Take box of books to mailroom; pick up mail. Only one envelope at present - travel forms my dean has approved. Yay! Back to Special Collections - researcher has a question. Look up book for her; no luck. Phone call - does library have a laptop that can be used in a presentation for the Faculty-Staff Christian Fellowship today? I have no idea; please call our administrative assistant.

11:00-11:30 - Show man from facilities where our recycling bins are. Find other resources for researcher, who squeals with glee. Chat with her about her dissertation topic and all the good stuff she's finding here. Chug away on my first liter of water for the day. Print weekly meeting minutes for filing. Photocopy check for book sale. Realize it's time for a deposit. Prepare deposit slip and envelope for admin. asst. Finish that first bottle of water at last!

11:30-12:00 - Took deposit to admin. asst. Chatted with her for a few minutes. Checked catalog for a book I've never read but need to (To Kill a Mockingbird, never read it or seen the movie). Our copy is out. Checked shelves anyway for something I thought might be another copy, but it was just a study guide. Back to Special Collections. Watch a video recommended by a friend before heading downstairs for lunch.

12:00-1:00 - Lunch and weekly meeting of Faculty-Staff Christian Fellowship. Terrific presentation today by one of our professors on his trip to Senegal last summer with a group of students.

1:00-2:00 - Back to Special Collections. Greet student assistants and find projects for them. Chat with assistant. Receive box in the mail - hooray! It's the roller-brush for my vacuum cleaner at home! Find agenda for Thursday's Homecoming Committee meeting and put it in my calendar. Look over Cooperative Baptist Fellowship newsletter from mail. Check email. Find a project (and boxes) for third student assistant. Find project for 84-year-old. Finish reading CBF newsletter and put it on giveaway table. Proofread Georgia Baptist Historical Society newsletter that will be mailed soon. Respond to offsite patron who wants images from yearbooks (photocopies or scans?).

2:00-2:30 - Talk to student assistant about filing; mark some documents for her to put away. Receive final changes for GBHS newsletter; make changes in Publisher. Email former student who worked on this issue; sent him corrected file. Email assistants my upcoming travel dates. Help student who comes in to Special Collections but doesn't really need us; she needs to know how to find books using LC call numbers. Give her a quick lesson in the stacks; find two books with her. Email her a "cheat sheet" for finding things in LC.

2:30-3:00 - (Could today be any more exciting? I can't believe you're still reading!) Finally open yesterday's mail. Turn iTunes back on; it's been off since I went to lunch. Erg - want to shake off-site researcher who wants waaaaaay too much stuff from us. Refreshing Twitter/FriendFeed and catching up.

3:00-4:00 - File some paperwork that has been on my desk. Clean up pile of stuff to left of computer monitor. Make notes based on notes I want to recycle. Look up Robert Oppenheimer's death date. Create new to-do list. Answer reference question. Recycle pieces of paper I no longer need. Check bank balance in moment of terror (after finding dues renewal notice). Handle phone call about our hours for the rest of the week.

4:00-4:30 - Help student assistant look for double-sided tape (find some in closet). Continue cleaning up pile on desk. Find Access report I have no memory of printing last September. Keep it? Toss it? Hmmm. (Put it with the items it was related to in compact shelving.) Oh, good - mystery items. Did I answer these? Should I answer these? (Oh, dear. The autosave feature in Blogger isn't happy. I have 30 minutes to go here, but I'm going to try to post before I lose this.)

Monday, Monday: A Day in the Life

2009-01-23T11:40:00.001-05:00

"Woke up, got out of bed, dragged a comb across my head..."

Well, sort of. Woke up about 6:30am. Dressed, breakfasted, and left house about 7:40. Started the day with a visit to the chiropractor, and got to the office about 9:00. Turned in Watchmen at circulation desk.

As I do on most workdays, I booted up my computer and checked work email and Gmail. Only 46 new emails on the work account today; not bad for a weekend. Deleted a number of those that were Facebook announcements. Also checked the answering machine - no messages were left over the weekend. Scrolled through Twitter and FriendFeed feeds quickly to see if there were any I wanted to respond to. Selected starting track for iTunes; I need music!

Doctoral student researcher arrived this morning. Because she was in last week, we already had her materials pulled and ready to go.

Worked on reference question from a phone call I received after 5pm last Friday - when was our softball field given its current name? Oddly enough, we did not have a university subject file on the softball field or a biographical file on its namesake. Spent some time looking through campus newspapers and advancement office publications. Talked to athletics director to see what he knew. Returned call to patron from sports information office who was seeking info; gave him our best guesses.

Faculty member stopped by to chat; we talked about university matters and his daughter, one of my former student assistants.

Talked to dean about a letter I needed to send out and upcoming travel arrangements.

Noon: lunch break! (Saw former student assistant on way to lunch; she's interested in coming back.)

After lunch: responded to a reference question about interlibrary loan of microfilm reels. Sent letter to group that wants their collection back (no dice, according to our university attorney). Made copies for attorney and dean.

Former student assistant stopped by to see if I would be a reference; he's applying for an internship. (Of course I will.) Talked to him about his senior history paper due this fall. Suggested a collection he might find interesting.

Contacted our building steward about problems with our remote-controlled door lock. We either need new batteries for the remotes, or something is wrong with the lock. She has informed the appropriate person in facilities maintenance.

Moved boxes of personal papers for my 84-year-old part-time assistant. He has organized the material and prepared inventories, but I needed to do the shelving. No problem.

Emailed HR office about whether I need to do an annual evaluation for my new part-time person who just started work in November (no).

Attended weekly library management group meeting. No weekly Tuesday meeting this week, so that's good news.

Found folders for a processing project our technical services staff is helping with. Talked to returning student assistant about her schedule for the semester.

(Two other students came in to work today. They filed everything from the biographical and university "to be filed" boxes and then worked on boxes of papers from the administration building attic.)

And now it's 4:48. I think I've covered all the highlights (and most of the lowlights) from today's work experience. In a few minutes I will attend a fitness class at our gym and then head home. See you tomorrow!

Laura

25 Things You Didn't Care If You Knew about Me

2009-01-19T17:10:00.001-05:00

I've really enjoyed seeing the "25 things you didn't know about me" meme making the rounds, so I thought I would chime in. Some of you may know some of these things, depending on how long you've been around me. However, I still thought it would be fun to see what I could come up with for my list. Here goes nothing!

1. I was an extra in Driving Miss Daisy. "Uncle Walter's birthday party" (the reason Hoke and Daisy go to Alabama) was filmed at my grandmother's house in Griffin, Georgia. My mom delivers the birthday cake and says, "Happy birthday, Uncle Walter!" If you know exactly where to look, you can see my grandmother seated at the table. And I am in front of the French doors talking to a guy from Georgia Tech and holding a root beer. (Picture of me with Morgan Freeman.)

2. I was born with a hole in my heart (atrial septal defect) that wasn't discovered until I was in graduate school. I had surgery to fix it in 1995. Afterward, the doctor told me I could play sports again, which made me laugh.

3. Speaking of sports, I enjoy watching college football. I got my master's at Florida State and went to the Sugar Bowl game (FSU/UF) in 1995. FSU won. :)

4. I met my husband online in 1997. My parents couldn't object too much - my brother and his wife met online and married in 1996.

5. I'm a huge Beatles fan and saw Paul McCartney in concert twice in Atlanta (1990 and 1993).

6. My initials are LAMB, and I collect sheep (but not real ones).

7. My favorite number is 7.

8. I had my wisdom teeth removed when I was in high school.

9. I worked in London, England, for four months in 1996. I was the computer lab supervisor for Florida State's study abroad program there.

10. I'm also a huge Monty Python fan and met Michael Palin at a book signing when I was in London.

11. While I was in London, I heard a sound one night that I assumed was thunder. It turned out it was an IRA bomb exploding in the other end of the city.

12. I once took Kate Pierson of the B-52's shopping for antiques in Macon, Georgia.

13. I won a statewide poetry contest in high school for a poem I wrote about a chocolate rabbit.

14. I own a pair of gold Disneyland "mouse ears," but I have never been to Disneyland. I have, however, been to Walt Disney World, and I have another day left on my ticket when I'm ready to go back.

15. I love cartoons, but only the good ones (Looney Tunes, Ren and Stimpy, the Smurfs, the Powerpuff Girls, and others are considered "good.").

16. I have kissed the Blarney Stone. Someday I will find the picture of that event and post it.

17. When I was about four, I overfed a fish that belonged to my brother. The fish died.

18. I taught myself to play the flute and played in high school band. Somewhere I have a band letter as well as an academic letter.

19. I was "STAR Student" (top SAT score) for my high school. I have recently reconnected with my "STAR Teacher" on Facebook.

20. I own a Chia Pet.

21. I am not now, nor have I ever been, a member of the Communist Party. In fact, I'm not a member of any party.

22. My husband used to teach martial arts, and I decided to take lessons from him. I made it to green-purple belt, and I loved breaking boards!

23. I cannot stand sauerkraut, but I will eat boiled okra like it's goin' out of style.

24. The first records I ever bought were 45rpms of "Stars on 45" and Juice Newton's "Queen of Hearts." I think I still have them.

25. I was president of the drama support group in college. We coordinated cast parties, found ushers for the plays, helped backstage, and did service projects. I dressed up as "Octopuff," an anti-smoking octopus, for the American Lung Association on more than one occasion.

And if knowing is half the battle, you should be in pretty good shape! Want to play along? Consider yourself tagged, and feel free to post your own list!

Another "Library Day in the Life" emphasis coming soon!

2009-01-15T12:01:00.000-05:00

Bobbi at Librarian by Day reminds us that it has been six months since the first round of our "Day in the Life" postings. Do it again! And if you missed it last time, there's no time like the present!

Just post what you do in a "typical" (ha, ha) day in your library or archives. If you're like most of us, you aren't sitting around reading books!

Pat Terry concert, Macon, GA, 12/04/08

2008-12-05T10:48:00.000-05:00

(This doesn't really have anything to do with archives unless you count the connections with my former place of work, the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. But I still wanted to write it.)

I had the most amazing time last night. Georgia singer/songwriter Pat Terry gave a free concert at Macon's historic Douglass Theatre, the venue where Otis Redding and Little Richard got their starts. Johnny Pierce, editor of Baptists Today, invited Pat to perform in Macon, and I'm so glad he did!

I've listened to Pat's music since I was a kid; we had several of his Contemporary Christian albums at home. He sang three of my favorite of his songs last night, "I Can't Wait," "Home Where I Belong," and "That's the Way." (My former boss sang "That's the Way" at my wedding, so that one's very special to me.) But Pat's talents go beyond the realm of Christian music. He also sang several Country songs he has written through the years, songs that are better known in versions by other performers. These included "Help Me Hold On" (Travis Tritt), "Notorious" (Confederate Railroad), and "It's a Little Too Late" (Tanya Tucker). And he sang some things from his forthcoming CD, which I was able to pre-order. My only regret about the evening is that more people didn't attend the show, two fabulous hours of hearing Pat talk about his songs and then play them.

As people trickled into the theatre, I wondered if I would be the youngest person in attendance. After the show, though, I did see a kid who appeared to be about 12. (I have no idea if he knew who Pat Terry was or not.) I sat with several people from my church, and we chatted before the show. One of them asked me if I was "thirty yet." I laughed and told her I loved her, confessing that I'm almost 37. She was genuinely shocked and asked the lady next to her if she knew my age. That one said she would have guessed 32 at the most. Yay for sweet church friends! Our former pastor and his wife were also in attendance, having driven down from Atlanta. I got to visit with them after the show, so that was nice.

After the concert, Pat was happy to meet people and sign autographs. I chatted with him about having his song at my wedding and thanked him for his music and his time last night. We also talked about my former boss (FB) at the GMHF; they have met on a few occasions through the years. Pat asked about how FB was doing; he's had some health problems over the years. I thought it was cool that Pat remembered that. He was a genuinely nice guy, and I hope I'll get to hear him again sometime.

Brunswick Stew recipe (no bowling balls required)

2008-10-20T10:34:00.000-04:00

Brunswick Stew
(from a friend who works for Weight Watchers, but you can't tell it's good for you!)

Ingredients

28 oz canned diced tomatoes
15 oz can cream-style corn
15 oz can whole kernel corn
1 10 oz. can Castleberry's BBQ Pork
1 10 oz. can Castleberry's BBQ Beef
1 10 oz canned chicken
1/4 cup barbeque sauce
2 Tbsp ketchup
4 oz frozen chopped onions (or 1/2 of medium onion, chopped)

Instructions

Open all cans and empty into a pot. Add remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Cook over a medium-low heat for about 30 minutes to an 1 hour. (Or put everything into a Crock Pot for a few hours until the onions are done enough for you.)

That's all there is to it!

Back in GA

2008-08-31T12:57:00.001-04:00

Hi, gang! I'm too tired to post much about my San Fran trip and upload my pix, but I'll work on it over the next few days. It's good to be home.

Fighting for truth, justice, and the 2.0 way!

2008-08-09T13:57:00.001-04:00

Check out the librarian superheroes group on Flickr!

Tag - you're it!

2008-08-08T14:06:00.000-04:00

Following up on http://superstarchivist.blogspot.com/2008/07/whats-nice-kid-like-you-doing-in-place.html, I now tag the following:

The Tinfoil Raccoon herself

Linda of Alone in the Archives

Juice at Tales from the Liberry

Colleen and her FBs

and Jill of Digitization 101

I'm looking forward to reading your stories!

L.

And now, the rest of the story

2008-08-08T13:38:00.000-04:00

So, how did I end up as the Superstarchivist that you know and love?

Well... looking back, I can recall several signs that I would eventually end up working in a library/archives/museum. When I was young, I remember shelving the books in my family's hallway bookcase alphabetically by author one day. Also, as a pastor's kid, I spent a lot of time in our church library, and I sometimes matched up checkout cards with books that had been returned there. On my first trip to Washington, DC, I loved all the Smithsonian museums and the National Archives. (I was about 5.) But let's skip ahead a few years.

I had some wonderful teachers in high school and some that weren't so great. U. S. history was a major yawn for me, though, and I always thought somebody ought to know more about it than one particular teacher I had. (Bless his heart, as we say in the South.) When I went to college, it was a toss-up between majoring in English and history. At the time, I thought a career in archaeology might be fun, and I also remembered that poor teacher, so I went with history. My school teacher mother kept telling me to add on an education certificate, but I knew good and well I didn't want to teach.

Fast forward to my senior year. My history degree was coming to an end, and I still didn't have any definite career plans. Shorter also offered an anthropology minor at that time (I think my roommate and I might have been the only people ever to get them), and the anthro professor asked if I would proofread a finding aid for her. She was working on a local history microfilming project. I had been to the Georgia Archives twice for a historical research class but had never seen a finding aid. However, I'm vicious with a red pen (thanks for those genes, Mom!), and I love to edit. When I gave Dr. O her marked up finding aid, she said, "You'd make a great archivist - you have such an attention to detail!" A little light bulb came on over my head. Really? I could maybe do this in some way and get paid? Hmmm.

She helped me arrange a volunteer internship at the state archives, and I worked with a manuscript curator there for the entire month of August 1993. They were nice enough to give me a parking permit from somebody who was going on vacation and didn't need it. I worked on processing the records of the Pilot Club (founded in Macon, GA). I enjoyed meeting the archivists there and asked them what I needed to do if I wanted a job in their field. They all suggested getting an MLS.

Next stop: Florida State University, where I got my master's after taking a year off to work for the DNR. By the time I finished my degree and worked at FSU's London Study Centre for a semester, Georgia was in a budget crunch, and departments of state government were being closed. There was no way I was getting in at the state archives!

This is getting long, so I'll wrap up. Long story short (if it's not too late): I finally landed a job at the state music museum as music librarian/archivist. The rest, as they say, is history. And I love it.

My very own meme!

2008-08-08T13:34:00.000-04:00

As avid readers (ha, ha, chortle, snort) of this blog know, I recently started a meme on how we got into this crazy business of librarianship/museumship/archivesship. I've spotted two replies so far:

http://tombrarian.wordpress.com/2008/08/08/how-i-got-into-this-mess/#comment-9459

http://learninglibtech.wordpress.com/2008/08/04/since-you-asked-what-im-doing-here/

And I've promised Tom that I will indeed tell my own story! I hope I can do that this afternoon.

L.

End of Monday, Beginning of Tuesday

2008-08-05T10:07:00.000-04:00

I realized last night that I never finished yesterday's "Day in the Life" postings. Sorry! After lunch, I taste-tested some bonbons a co-worker was making for a shower (yummy) and then found out the 36 boxes coming to us from the law library were on the way! Jennifer and I helped John move the boxes from his car and the loading dock into a vacant office in Special Collections. (The next step is to meet with the dean and the head of technical services and figure out where we go from here.) I also scheduled a meeting at a local private school that wants to start an archives and picked up a few things on my desk.

Tuesday, so far:

I've spent the morning working on reference questions that were backing up in my e-mail. I've also started printing out correspondence from July that will be used to support the August monthly report. I've taken some outgoing mail down to our mailroom and put a catalog in the recycling box. There have been phone calls from a man who wants to buy some books (we don't have them on our "for sale" shelves at present, though) and from the provost's office needing the founding date for one of our colleges. Surprisingly, dealing with all of that has taken over two hours!

I read the news today, oh, boy... (part two)

2008-08-04T11:13:00.000-04:00

11:07-12:00 - Read the Chronicle's Daily Report in my e-mail. E-mailed administrative assistant about registration issues from last Friday's conference (I want my certificate of attendance!). Updated purchasing card statement for last month; printed out necessary copies and delivered to admin. asst. E-mailed Lee and Geoff about a week when Special Collections will be closed later this month.

I read the news today, oh, boy... (part one)

2008-08-04T09:09:00.001-04:00

Here's my stab at a "day in the life" posting. Today is Monday, August 4. The story so far...

8:00-9:15 - Arrived at library. Turned in book. Dropped off lunch in fridge. Noticed and disposed of dead mouse on glue board. (Ick factor - relatively low. He was already dead, so there was no squirming or anything.) Picked up mail. Talked to Bob and Jennifer. Came up to Special Collections and heard door alarm sounding. Turned it off. Updated voice mail with new closing info. Checked answering machine (haven't returned call yet). Unlocked doors and turned on lights. We're closed today, so that didn't take long. Opened e-mail and looked for anything urgent (nothing spotted). Read Twitter and FriendFeed updates. Fired up last.fm and picked out some music.

9:15-11:00 - Took Lee my copy of Sweeney Todd and chatted about Friday's GOLD/GALILEO conference. We enjoyed hearing Cliff Landis, Jason Puckett, Rachel Borchardt, and others, and we learned a lot! At 10:30, I went to a reception for our new circulation person and ate entirely too much. Mmmmm.

Now it's 11:07, and I'm going to look for my desk.

What's a nice kid like you doing in a place like this?

2008-07-18T16:41:00.000-04:00

Since Tom Ipri suggested that my FriendFeed post become a meme, I'll start it here:

What made you become a library/archives/museum employee? Was there a person? A life-changing event at a reference desk? A tarot card?

Feel free to share your stories via blogs/FriendFeed/Twitter and to tag others if you'd like! Consider yourself tagged!

Fun with "free" wifi

2008-06-04T12:44:00.000-04:00

The other day, we used a friend's laptop to shop for new cellphones and order online. We wanted some place with AC, and we went to the local McAlister's. We discovered we could pick up the free wifi signal from Quizno's (several yards away), and we happily used that. (We didn't want to pay for access at Starbuck's, thank you very much.)

Last night we were back in that same part of town and needed to use wireless again. This time, we went to Quizno's and felt bad about just using their signal for free. So we paid about $18 for sandwiches, chips, and drinks while we surfed. Wifi was no longer free, but Quizno's attracted some business with their "free" setup. Good for them!

Learning on vacation

2008-06-03T13:07:00.000-04:00

I'm home this week, so professional development is out the window. However, I'm still learning stuff!

Today I learned that although I would describe my hair as dark brown, the fine people at Clairol would call me a "medium brown" instead.

Good to know.

Food for thought

2008-05-29T09:24:00.000-04:00

(Because I'm all about the food.)

Well, I've been thinking since yesterday about what I could write in order to have more frequent postings on here. I'm going to steal an idea from What I Learned Today and share things I learned at work, at home, from friends, etc. I'll try to have a professional development focus, but some things may involve a bit more fun.

At least I have a goal now! That should count for something.

So, what have I learned so far today? That apparently telling a researcher you're going to be closed next week doesn't matter. The researcher responded with an offer to pay a library employee to supervise him in Special Collections.

No, sir, we're really, really closed. We mean it.

Sigh.

Coming up for air

2008-05-28T13:02:00.000-04:00

Well, since all the cool kids in the LSW wiki have links to their blogs, I suppose I should start using mine again.

Hi, everyone!

Oh, dear.

2007-09-20T08:51:00.000-04:00

One of my student assistants shared a story from a science lab this week. A girl in her group was using a light meter to measure the amount of sunlight in a particular area of a tree. The girl asked where to put the light meter, and the other group members told her it needed to point toward the southwest, near the sun. Her next question?

"Where's the sun?"

List-o-rama

2007-08-24T08:35:00.000-04:00

There has been some chatter about the annual Beloit College list of "things to know about this year's college freshmen that will make you feel old."

I've been reading some of the comments (e.g., at Dances with Books and The Annoyed Librarian) and decided I would add a few items of my own. Please note that although I have looked at the list in the past, I have not memorized all of the previous entries. I apologize if I duplicate some things that have been said before.

I started college in 1989, when most of this year's freshmen were born. Here are some things I have to say about this age group and their realm (not necessarily using 1989 as the "starting point"; how many of us remember much before we were 3 or 4?):

Ricky Martin has always been a solo artist. (Menudo, anyone?)
They have no idea who Willis is or what he's talking about.
The Simpsons have always been on TV. M*A*S*H has also been on, but only in syndication.
"New Coke" was never an option.
They have always had cartoons on some channel at any given time - not just on Saturday mornings.
Chances are they have never worn a Members Only jacket, Swatch watch, or leg warmers.
Their parents fought over Furbys while Christmas shopping, not Cabbage Patch Kids.

I'm sure I'll think of other things. Feel free to add your own in the comments.

Come on, and do the Circulation!

2007-08-22T13:36:00.001-04:00

Today is the first day in my 10+ years of library work that I've actually spent time at a circulation desk. It's a whole new world!

This definitely isn't my turf.

Hipster librarians?

2007-07-09T10:26:00.000-04:00

Here's my favorite line from http://www.nysun.com/article/57835?page_no=1

"Asked how she can tell the archivists from the librarians, Ms. Cane said, 'Different gang colors.'"

That's great!

7/26/07 - Follow-up

A colleague asked what the gang colors are for archivists. I suggested "black and blue."

Testing...1...2...3...

2007-05-10T15:01:00.000-04:00

Hi! Welcome to my ramblings. I just want to see how this works!